Take a look at travel websites and travel apps, and you’ll see a lot of ways that social media influence tourism. Photo-sharing tools, microblogging, maps, niche apps and travel communities are being used by travellers more than ever to improve their experience. Gathering information about the destination, interacting with travel buddies (people they meet during their trip) and generating content after the trip are some of the ways that social media is being used to transform tourism marketing. Just to illustrate the massive audience, Instagram has 500 million daily active users, and the hashtag #travel was used more than 300 million times since 2010.
In September 2018, TripAdvisor launched a new website and mobile experience. From a travel review and booking site, TripAdvisor has become a social network, and hundreds of social media influencers and partners have joined it. According to a 2017 Oxford Economics Study, TripAdvisor has influenced $546 billion USD (10.3%) of global tourism spending annually in the travel and hospitality industry as consumers use reviews posted on their website and app as a part of their decision-making process.
To watch the launch presentation – Stephen Kaufer, CEO & co-founder of TripAdvisor
This is an amazing opportunity for digital nomads. More people online looking for information means more job opportunities. And it’s here that the digital nomads who work as writers, graphic designers and virtual assistants can take advantage of how social media influence tourism. When people are researching their next travel destinations, they read reviews, consider the opinion of social influencers and also check the social media channels of the tourism companies.
Relevant and informative content is the key to digital marketing and can be produced from anywhere with an available internet connection. Developing content to encourage and facilitate the sharing of stories, reviews and audiovisual media is a fundamental way to increase brand awareness and recognition. Big brands already know this and little by little small businesses are beginning to understand the impact that social media can have on revenue. Through affiliate marketing programs, writing blog posts and e-books, or producing videos and photos, there is a big market out there for digital nomads creating travel-related content.
If you want to get a clear perspective on social media audience numbers, Spread launched the 2018 Social Audience Guide – Your guide to understanding audiences across networks.
Gabriela is a journalist and the publisher at Vitamin Sea. She’s passionate about the ocean and sharing inspiring stories.
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I love how you explain the topic in this blog post!