How Influencer Content Is Reaping Rewards For Travel Companies

As travel companies seek to promote themselves to audiences on social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, a study delves into the results they can expect to achieve.

The study from Jerne, a platform connecting creators with experience providers, revealed that a hosted experience on average results in 170,944 content impressions, 16,921 "likes," 913 content comments, an average creator rating of 97% (from experience providers) and an average experience provider rating of 99% (from creators).

Tim Morgan, CEO of Jerne, said, "The creator economy is a billion-dollar industry with millions of people producing all types of marketing content for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, blogs and other platforms. And those marketing efforts with hotel, cruise and tour companies are increasingly providing marketing cost savings and driving bookings to retail channels including travel advisors, [online travel agencies] and direct sales."

The research also looked at the expectations of the travel providers including hotels, cruises and tours that are providing a hosted experience. Hotels are typically looking for four social media story posts per day, a social media feed/blog post per partnership and five high-resolution images or videos per day. Cruise and tour companies have similar expectations but typically seek fewer images and videos.

Similarly, a Phocuswright paper "The Future of Social Media, Influencers and Social Commerce in Travel" said a site visit to a hotel, activity provider or destination is as vital when it comes to trip inspiration as the "fit" of an item in fashion.

"The equivalent of the try-on for travel is the site visit," the report said. "Photos and videos taken on-site deliver far better engagement when compared to textual mentions associated with stock or brand-provided photos. This need for authentic social proof raises the bar considerably for travel brands when selecting influencers and planning campaigns."