Social media has revolutionized the way businesses interact with customers, and this is especially true for the tourism industry. For restaurants, hotels, and resorts that work with tourists, being active on social media is crucial to attracting and retaining customers. These statistics are hard to swallow, especially if your business doesn’t have an active social media presence.
Showcasing Unique Features
Firstly, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram provide an excellent opportunity to showcase the unique features of your business, including food, accommodations, and scenic views. By sharing attractive photos and videos, tourists are enticed to visit your establishment and experience what you have to offer.
For those guests who will pay upfront (like guests of luxury villas and hotels), social media can show the value of what they will get, it’s easier to take a decision when you have all the details.
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Direct Communication with Customers
Secondly, social media allows for direct communication with customers. This provides an opportunity for businesses to address any concerns or complaints in real time, thereby improving customer satisfaction.
Additionally, businesses can use social media to gather feedback and suggestions from customers, which can be used to improve services and offerings.
Engagement and Loyalty
Thirdly, social media provides a platform for customer engagement and loyalty. By interacting with customers, businesses can foster a sense of community and create brand advocates who will promote your establishment to others.
Influence on Travel Decisions
In fact, for millennials, social media plays an even bigger role in their travel decisions, with 40% of them choosing travel destinations based on how Instagrammable the photos will be. Over 50% of travellers have decided to visit a particular destination after seeing images or videos from friends, family, or peers on social media. This suggests that social media greatly influences our travel choices, making it an essential tool for travel marketing.
Travel Inspiration
Social media platforms are also the most popular source of travel inspiration for many travellers, with Instagram leading the way for Gen Zers. In fact, 86% of people say that seeing images of a destination in their feeds has interested them in travelling there. This highlights the power of social media in shaping our travel aspirations.
Restaurants
When it comes to choosing restaurants, social media also plays a significant role. Almost half (45%) rely on friends’ social media images to decide where to dine. Additionally, over half of the people have made plans to dine at a particular restaurant based on images or videos in their social media feeds. This means that social media has become an essential marketing tool for restaurants as well.
Impact on Travel Experiences
Over 72% of travellers post vacation photos on social media, showcasing their travel experiences to their friends and followers. Additionally, just under 40% of global luxury travellers place more emphasis on social media when travelling in the coming year. In fact, over half of luxury travellers believe that capturing social media content while away helps them enjoy a more meaningful experience. This suggests that social media not only influences our travel choices but also enhances our travel experiences.
Social Media Travel Statistics
We unified many interesting numbers (find sources at the end of the post), and many statistics are about the USA because it’s where are the headquarters of the Social Media Platforms. But the situation is similar with other English-speaking social media users.
- 89% of vacationers checked social media during their most recent leisurely trip.
- Over half of the travellers (55%) spend between 30 and 120 minutes daily on social media.
- 46% want to make followers jealous of their travel experience.
- Almost six in 10 travellers (58%) believe frequent social media use negatively impacted their most recent vacation.
- 40% of Millennials pick travel destinations based on how Instagrammable the pics will be.
- 52% of travellers decided to visit a specific destination after seeing its images/videos from friends, family, or peers on social media.
- Over half of the vacationers (60%) post photos on social media while away. When it comes to Millennials specifically, that number rises to 97%.
- Friends’ photos on Facebook influence over 50% of users’ travel plans.
- Every week, 1M+ travel-related hashtags are searched on Instagram.
- 70% of Americans update their Facebook status while on vacation.
- 69% of the worldwide population uses social media platforms for travel-related needs.
- Instagram has over 300M+ posts with the word “travel” in them.
- Instagram is the top source of travel inspiration for Gen Zers.
- 76% of people who scroll social media for travel say it’s made them want to travel more.
- 86% have grown interested in travelling to a specific destination after seeing its images in their feeds.
- Nearly half of Americans (45%) say friends’ social images are the most influential factor when choosing a restaurant at a travel destination.
- Over 57% of people have made plans to dine at a given restaurant based on images/videos in their feed.
- A quarter of Gen Zers takes 50+ pics daily while on vacation. Of those, 40% share them on social media.
- Nearly half of Gen Zers (45%) trust influencers’ travel recommendations.
- 43% of Gen Zers are interested in destinations that look good in pictures.
- 20% of global travellers choose a place to stay that they could style in photos to make it look more expensive. Over a quarter of global travellers (26%) like unique accommodation options, as they can help them stand out from the crowd.
- A little over half of travellers (53%) avoid booking hotels that don’t have reviews on social media.
- Over half of the future travellers (52%) have liked a Facebook page associated with their destination.
- Over 50% of hotels have a booking engine or widget on their Facebook page to ease booking.
- 38% use social media to blog about their travel experiences.
- A little over 30% of people track their social media posts’ interactions while on vacation.
- 39% of travellers check in at cool places.
The Importance of Travel Social Media for Businesses
These statistics demonstrate the significant impact of social media on travellers’ decision-making and travel experiences. As travel and tourism continue to grow, social media will become an even more important tool for travel marketing and tourism. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the role of social media in travel decision-making and to use it effectively to promote travel destinations and experiences.
Being active on social media is essential for businesses that work with tourists.
It allows businesses to showcase their unique features, improve customer satisfaction, gather feedback, and create a sense of community among customers. It’s also important to understand that tourists have no many other ways to discover a business which is in a foreign country without Social Media. Therefore, businesses that want to thrive in the tourism industry should make social media a priority in their marketing strategy.
At FAMEsolutely we offer marketing and SMM services. With over a decade of experience with business Social Media (from its early times) and successfully attracting the attention of English-speaking ex-pats and tourists in different countries, we created the Success Formulas for the tourism industry.
The Success Formula will drive organic growth and attract more customers. Click on the link to learn more:
- Luxury Villas and Hotels Success Formula
- Restaurant and local business Success Formula
- Resort Success Formula (2 outlets)
We also offer customisable monthly packages. Click on the link to learn more:
Sources
- BankMyCell, “Digital Detox on Vacation”
- Booking.com, “For the Feed: Booking.com Explores How Social Media Is Influencing Our Alternative Accommodation Choice”
- Booking.com, “Gen Z and Social Media: It’s Complicated”
- Carter E., “Social Media, Mobile, and Travel: Like, Tweet, and Share Your Way across the Globe”
- Cision, “Americans Spent 176 Hours Scrolling Social Media for Travel Inspiration This Year, Data Reveals”
- Deloitte, “Social? That’s for Consumers. For Travel Companies, Social Media Means Business”
- ForeverVacation, “How Social Media Is Changing the Way We Travel (By the Numbers)”
- Gururaja R., “Impact of Social Media on Tourism and Hospitality”
- Lane L., “The Effect Of Social Media On Luxury Travel, And How To Improve Experiences: New Global Study”
- Machado K., “The Good (And Bad) Impacts Of Social Media On The Way We Now Travel”
- MDG Advertising, “Vacationing the Social Media Way”
- Schofields, “Holiday Destination Chosen Based on How ‘Instagrammable’ the Holiday Pics Will Be”
- Stackla, “Bridging the Gap: Consumer & Marketing Perspectives on Content in the Digital Age”
- Statista, “How Do You Typically Use Your Mobile Phone to Find Inspiration or Ideas on Where to Travel?”
- Sweeney E., “Study: Just 15% Of Consumers Say Social Channels Influence Travel Choices”
- Wex, “US Travel Trends 2019 Report”
- Woolf M., “Smartphone Use On Vacation [2022 Study]”