With an influx in social media usage over the last couple of years, the travel industry has seen a burst in tourist-driven travel. From friends posting on Instagram to influencers publicizing brand trips, people who use social media are now seeing posts about travel almost daily.
Social media is frequently used for finding travel inspiration, as the hashtag “travel” has more than 74.4 billion views on TikTok and 624 million posts on Instagram, according to CNBC Travel. Users scrolling through the hashtags on these platforms end up seeing places that they would like to visit and quickly get inspired to book a trip. Many tourism companies can use this source of travel inspiration to their advantage, having sponsored posts boost their company.
Brand trips have recently become much more prevalent on social media, with companies such as Tarte Cosmetics sending popular influencers to various countries to promote their products. In an interview with Glossy, the CEO of Tarte, Maureen Kelly, explained how her brand has “prioritized putting its marketing budget into building relationships with influencers.”
A brand trip is a good marketing strategy for companies because the influencers that go on them post about the products the brand creates, along with behind-the-scenes content that many fans adore.
Travel influencers, who are commonly invited to brand trips, also post about the places they visit and what travelers can do there. Along with this, social media users can see travel posts from mutuals on lavish trips, and may be motivated to book a trip to the same destination and post their own images on social media.
While posting content is customary for most people on vacations, some believe this is harmful and that users are focusing too much on photos they want to post when they travel. According to Travel Research Online, around 58% of people who travel believe that frequent social media use has negatively impacted their vacations.
In addition to social media harming the travel industry, junior Hannah Cohen of Sea Bright believes that tourists populating certain places that they’ve seen on social media can be bad for the financial aspect of vacations.
“I think it [traveling] has benefits and disadvantages because it allows more people to see certain places,” Cohen said. “But it can also make more places expensive due to tourists overpopulating the areas.”
By using social media, many users are exposed to brand-new places that they have never heard of before, and this can drive them to visit a specific place that has recently gained popularity.
“I definitely really want to go to the Greek islands and now they’re super touristy but they look super beautiful,” Cohen said. “I see a lot of people traveling on TikTok to places like islands and pretty places similar to that, which definitely makes me want to travel more.”
