The following is a preview of our upcoming 2025 State of Social Media in Travel Report by Beautiful Destinations, set to be published in January. Subscribe to this newsletter for exclusive insights and early access to each chapter as we explore how social media and content creation are shaping the future of the travel industry.
The digital transformation of the travel industry has been a fascinating journey since the dawn of the internet. It all began with the rise of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) like Expedia and Booking.com, which transitioned the industry from physical travel offices, analog guidebooks and catalogs to digital screens.
In recent years, another transformation has reshaped how we find and plan our travels: social media.
- Now, travelers aren’t just consulting destination websites and OTAs for vacation ideas and booking. Instead, they’re turning to social media—and they are doing so en masse.
- Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, (and many more), propelled by a new generation of content creators building vibrant online communities, now dictate the ebb and flow of travel trends.
Our own
Beautiful Destinations
social media channels, with over 50 million followers across platforms, are a driving force for this change, influencing where and how people travel.
This shift to social media isn’t just changing where people look for travel inspiration; it’s fundamentally altering the travel industry’s foundation.
We are witnessing a fundamentally different way to discover, plan, compare, and soon, book travel.
To describe the current transformation in travel discovery merely as the rise of social media oversimplifies a complex evolution. In reality, there are three closely intertwined forces reshaping how people plan and research their vacations and trips.
These can be distinguished by shifts in:
- WHERE travel inspiration occurs
- WHO has become the trusted authority in guiding travel decisions
- and HOW travel inspiration resonates most effectively with travelers online.
Let’s delve into these “Three Qs” of online travel discovery in 2024 to fully understand the current transformation.
1. Where do travelers find inspiration today?
The landscape of how people search for and discover travel opportunities has undergone a significant transformation over the past decade.
- Since the early 2000s, aspiring travelers would usually start their journey with search engines like Google, travel blogs or OTA websites, seeking out interesting destination ideas.
- However, the paradigm has shifted dramatically, with the majority of travel inspiration now occurring directly on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Weibo.
In essence, social media has established itself as the leading resource for travel inspiration, a reality underscored by consistent findings across multiple reputable studies.
- For instance, a travel study
by
Expedia Group
, which gathered feedback from thousands of travelers across seven geographic markets, revealed that 77% of travelers consult at least one major social media platform when pondering travel plans. - This finding is echoed by the
American Express
Global Travel Trend Report
, which highlights that 75% of respondents have been inspired to visit a specific destination through initial social media exposure. - Moreover, a detailed 2024 report
from the travel-activity booking provider
Klook
disclosed that up to 80% of travelers make booking decisions based on the inspiration and recommendations they discover on various social media platforms.
All these statistics collectively underscore the pivotal role social media now plays, becoming a discovery engine for travel and overtaking traditional search engines like Google.
An important observation is that social media isn’t just preferred over other digital channels; it’s also favored more than traditional TV media and even face-to-face consultations with friends and family for travel ideas.
This preference signals how much trust social media users place in the travel inspiration they find on these platforms, especially from creators they choose to follow—a dynamic we will explore in depth in the next section.
This social-media-first mindset is not exclusively prevalent among the youngest travelers, such as Gen-Z digital natives who have never known a world without social media and smartphones.
Data from
Phocuswright
reveals that approximately four out of five Millennials—travelers born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s—utilize social media for travel inspiration as well.
This figure is only about ten percentage points lower than the 90% of Gen-Z who engage in similar behaviors.
This statistic effectively debunks the myth that social media’s influence is confined to the newest generation of travelers.
- Millennials, who experienced the pre-digital era before the rise of mobile phones and social media, are also turning to these platforms for travel ideas.
- Notably, they tend to favor certain platforms, such as Facebook, which enjoys higher penetration among this demographic compared to others.
The significance of this trend cannot be overstated, especially considering that Millennials already represent the largest demographic in terms of travel expenditure; see the chart below.
Looking 10 years into the future, Millennials and Gen-Z combined will account for roughly 80% of all travel spending power—a significant cohort with social media at the heart of their travel discovery habits.
Given these new realities, travel brands—including destinations, hotels, and airlines—must urgently recalibrate their marketing strategies to effectively reach travelers where they are most actively seeking inspiration: on social media platforms.
Despite its proven impact, social media often remains a secondary concern within the broader marketing strategies of many travel organizations.
Brands that fail to prioritize this channel going forward risk not only reduced visibility but also diminished relevance among a rapidly evolving consumer base.
In summary: the shift towards social media as the primary source of travel inspiration not only highlights changing consumer behaviors but also the evolving digital landscape of the travel industry.
As we delve deeper into the reasons behind this transition, it becomes clear that the appeal of social media for travel discovery lies in its ability to offer instant, visually striking, and uniquely creative content, making it a more dynamic and engaging source of inspiration than traditional methods.
But who is creating this content? Let’s explore this next.
2. Who are the sources inspiring travelers the most?
In our studies, something like almost 40 percent of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search. They go to TikTok or Instagram.
Prabhakar Raghavan – Senior Vice President at Google
As social media cements its status as the premier platform for travel discovery, even acknowledged by search giants like Google, there’s been a notable shift in WHO influences travelers’ decisions, particularly regarding their choice of destination.
A crucial aspect to grasp in this context is the inherent openness of most social media users seeking travel inspiration— they often don’t have a predetermined destination in mind, making them highly susceptible to influence, as seen in the chart.
This receptiveness to new ideas finds a natural home on social media platforms, where visual content reigns supreme.
Unlike Google’s text-heavy search results (despite its increasing integration of images and videos), social media’s visually-driven content much more effortlessly sparks people’s imaginations.
Another significant difference between search engines and social media is the latter’s use of algorithmic learning to deliver personalized results to users.
This means individuals are exposed to content more closely aligned with their preferences, leading to a much more targeted and, consequently, more relevant travel discovery experience.
The impact of social media has led to a unique culture of discovery, fostering an openness among travelers to be inspired. This explains why travelers (particularly those from the U.S.) spend an average of 176 hours per year
on social media seeking travel inspiration.
This brings an essential question:
Who is currently providing the most meaningful content on social media for travelers?
The answer lies with a new generation of content creators.
- These creators are not merely the masses of self-labeled “influencers” flooding upscale travel brands with promotional requests
. - Instead, they are ultra-creative, highly ambitious travel and video experts producing uniquely influential work, with platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok as their stage.
To unlock the full potential of these creators, travel brands benefit most by working with strategic partners like Beautiful Destinations.
- With over a decade of experience in channeling creators’ expertise, we act as a bridge, translating long-term brand objectives into actionable, platform-specific content strategies that drive business results.
- We don’t just know the best creators in the industry; we understand which of their unique skills best match each brand’s brief, guiding travel brands to maximize impact without sacrificing authenticity.
- Our operational expertise, data, and deep creator network enable us to assemble the ideal creators for every campaign into small, agile teams, handling the entire spectrum of content creation from pre- to post-production.
Our success lies in an intimate understanding of how to craft the right content for specific platforms, thereby ensuring our partners’ business outcomes are achieved whilst creating beautiful, impactful marketing campaigns.
The versatility required across different digital channels and travel experiences underscores the quality of our creator network, from those specialized in underwater cinematography to experts in architecturally focused hotel photography, and everything in-between.
A new class of creators has emerged in the travel industry, transcending the boundaries of traditional creative and production agencies. With strategic partners like Beautiful Destinations, travel marketers can unlock the full potential of these creators, who leverage a deep understanding of digital platforms to deliver content that drives business results. Across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and beyond, we create video-driven marketing campaigns, that inspire people to travel. This work influences all stages of the funnel, blending inspirational discovery content with itinerary planning and booking content for hotels and attractions. The superpower of our creator network lies in specificity—we create content tailored to each platform, speaking the language of our clients’ audiences, and telling stories in visually stunning ways that today’s travelers genuinely care about. As we navigate through 2025, the power dynamic in the travel industry is undeniably shifting to those who can master social-media-specific content creation. Those who fail to recognize and adapt to a world that needs faster, larger-scale, higher-quality content, at all times, and on all platforms, will inevitably be left behind.
, Founder and CEO at Beautiful Destinations
Speaking of the power of content, our own Beautiful Destinations social media channels exemplify this approach.
We have seen exceptional growth over the last decade, now inspiring over 50 million people when they travel–without any investment in paid advertising.
We have grown our audience solely by understanding and investing in world-class content.
Given the allure of this new wave of travel content creators, their impact is nothing short of remarkable.
YouGov
statistics reveal
that one in five people between the ages of 18 and 24 follow at least one travel creator, making them among the most influential figures online.
This evolution underscores a significant transformation:
Individual creators have not only replaced traditional travel brands as the primary source of travel discovery but have become influential brands in their own right.
This trend has not gone unnoticed by the travel industry.
- An increasing number of travel brands, particularly hotel groups and travel destinations, are partnering with creators for their marketing campaigns, showcasing the rapid growth of the creator movement.
- Projected to reach $24 billion USD by year’s end
, the content creator market has ballooned to 14 times its 2016 size.
As a result, travel brands must embrace a significant mindset shift.
- The old model of communicating through brand-centric messages alone is no longer sufficient.
- Today, a more personal and approachable strategy is essential, and this can be effectively achieved through integrating creators into your company’s marketing mix.
For travel brands looking to elevate their social media presence and truly connect with their audience, understanding how best to make content with creators, tie their briefs to your business objectives, and align them to your wider strategy is crucial.
3. How does travel inspiration resonate most effectively?
The pivot towards social media and the rapidly growing creator economy have significantly influenced how travel inspiration is cultivated and shared.
Central to this evolution is the meteoric rise of short-form video content, which lasts anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.
- Until recently, platforms like Instagram were dominated by image-based content
. - However, over the past few years, short-form videos have emerged as the predominant medium of user engagement.
This shift has been facilitated by improved mobile bandwidth, allowing users to easily play video formats on their smartphones, and, more importantly, the format’s capacity to engage users in more immersive yet effortless ways.
The allure of short-form videos lies not only in their compatibility with the shorter attention spans characteristic of today’s social media users, which allows them to browse through hundreds of videos in a remarkably short time, but also in the medium’s efficiency.
Video content enables a denser delivery of information within a brief span, packing a multitude of messages, emotions, and insights into digestible snippets.
Additionally, the format allows creators to infuse significantly more personality into their content than static images allow, fostering a sense of connection and approachability.
This added dimension of personal touch enhances its ability to engage and inspire travelers.
Given the impact and effectiveness of short-form videos, products such as Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts have surged in popularity in recent years, with their algorithms curating streams of short-form videos that align with users’ specific interests.
This fusion of personalized entertainment and informative content meets the increasing demand among travelers for purposeful travel experiences
and conscious decision-making, both in the planning stages and at the destination.
Short-form videos, with their multi-sensory storytelling approach, offer a compelling way to inform travelers, addressing their unique interests and preferences more effectively than traditional media.
The effectiveness of short-form video content isn’t just anecdotal; it’s also supported by data.
Insights from
HubSpot
highlight that short-form videos boast the highest return on investment
of all video-based content formats, ranking as the premier format for lead generation.
Consequently, social media platforms are increasingly prioritizing short-form video content in their feeds, creating new avenues for travel inspiration.
Through engaging narratives, breathtaking visuals, and succinct storytelling, short-form videos have emerged as a powerful tool in the travel industry’s marketing arsenal, offering creators and brands alike the opportunity to captivate and influence the travel decisions of millions.
However, as the realization of the power of short-form video spreads, social media platforms are becoming increasingly saturated with this type of content.
Going forward, quality will be the key factor that separates truly effective short-form videos from the rest, determining which content can genuinely engage and inspire travelers.
Last but not least, the appeal of short-form videos has also seen a boost from the rise of Generative AI, notably ChatGPT.
With an increase in people creating and sharing text content automated by ChatGPT on social media, such as entire travel blogs and fake travel guides
, videos have surged in value for their standout character and authentic touch—a direct result of human creation.
While this landscape may evolve with future advancements in AI video technologies like OpenAI’s Sora, Meta’s Movie Gen, or Runway ML, currently, videos stand out for their authenticity and are more popular and relevant than ever.
Data supports this trend: an analysis of 5 million freelancing jobs on
Upwork
revealed that video editing and production jobs saw a 39% increase in 2024 compared to the year before ChatGPT’s rise in 2022, whereas writing jobs experienced a 33% decrease.
The surging demand for video production and editing skills underscores the critical role of video content in today’s digital age, highlighting its trustworthiness and appeal in a market increasingly oversaturated by AI-generated text.
Given the current AI trajectory, it is essential for travel brands to double down on creating high-quality video content to distinguish themselves from the competition.
Specific and authentic videos are content formats that, in the near to medium term, cannot be replicated by Generative AI, offering a solid foundation for truly unique marketing content.
As video continues to dominate in engagement and effectiveness, investing in top-notch video production capabilities will prove crucial for brands aiming to captivate and convert today’s discerning travelers.
In our next newsletter edition, we’ll dive into how social media’s role has grown way beyond generating impressions for travel brands. Discover why social media is becoming the new frontier for travel bookings and direct conversions.
