Bring Visitors to Social With These Tourism Marketing Tips

Tourism marketing on social media has evolved. While social media has been a key player in connecting destinations with potential travelers since its inception, the medium has changed to emphasize video content and algorithmic discovery. To see results from social media, marketers must invest in the dynamic short-form video format while also understanding how to create a content marketing strategy that sticks the landing with audiences. For tourism marketers, it’s not just about posting beautiful photos anymore but about highlighting engaging, authentic experiences that audiences will want to watch and engage with. 

Let’s dive into the world of social media marketing for tourism to help you build a robust strategy — in this blog, we explore: 

• Why social media is important for tourism.
• The best social channels for tourism marketing.
• Five steps to developing a tourism social media strategy. 

Tourism is a massive $5.8 trillion industry across the globe. To put it into perspective, the industry averages nearly one billion tourist arrivals yearly. Marketing destinations to an audience this large — a sizable portion of the global population — requires channels that can reach almost everyone, and nothing fits that criteria quite like social media.

Social media is electric; content can spread to thousands of people in minutes and marketers simply do not see that kind of reach outside of expensive paid campaigns. Tourist destinations can reach a global audience, engage with future travelers and showcase their unique offerings without breaking the bank. 

The benefit of modern social media is that it is simple. A ten-second video filmed on a phone can reach audiences comparable to that of a paid campaign. With the right strategy, particularly by optimizing content to strike gold on the algorithm, marketers can drive awareness, boost bookings and foster a community of loyal followers.

There is no universal answer for which social channel marketers should invest in. Different channels cater to different audiences and have varying purposes depending on your brand’s goals.

• Facebook is home to an older demographic and is great to share detailed information about your offerings to audiences with buying power. However, marketers have to compete with saturated newsfeeds, and boosting posts with ad spend is the name of the game to gain an audience.

• Instagram focuses on visuals and has recently entered the world of social entertainment with Reels. Reels perform well organically, meaning marketers can gain significant traction without spending a lot on ads.

• TikTok is the channel that disrupted the market and inspired change from all platforms. It offers the opportunity to reach younger demographics who seek fun experiences, which aligns well with the tourism industry.

Successful social media campaigns for travel marketing have many moving pieces, including channel strategy, identifying audiences, creating engaging content and measuring results to make refinements. 

Here are some tips that will help bolster your tourism marketing campaigns.

Practice Social Listening

Social listening is the easiest way to determine what audiences want, how they’re talking about you and what content they’re most likely to engage with. Traditionally, it has involved monitoring mentions of your brand as well as relevant keywords, however, it has evolved to include AI-powered features such as:

• Social media trend identification helps you make better-performing content.
• Advanced filtering ensures you cut out all the noise, including using images rather than just keywords as a reference for filters.
• Competitive benchmarking lets you figure out where you stack against your competitors.

Dive Into Tourist Demographics 

Understanding your target audience is key to developing content that works for them. Consider factors like age, location, interests and travel preferences. Budget is also important, as older travelers may have the buying power for all-inclusive experiences, while younger travelers may be more interested in sightseeing and other low-cost activities. These factors will help create content that resonates most with your audience demographic across social channels.

Localize Campaigns When Relevant 

Social media is global, and tourism campaigns can find a more vast audience than other mediums. Developing a global social media strategy by localizing campaigns by region and language can make them more relevant and engaging. This could involve highlighting attractions that are appealing to international audiences but old news for locals, sharing local stories, or even partnering with influencers who have traveled from afar. When it comes to tourism, there is nothing more authentic than a testimonial from a real tourist who had an amazing time, and in many cases, they will create user-generated content.

Measure Success

The best way to create a successful campaign is through experimentation and iteration. Social media analytics tools allow brands to track the performance of their campaigns in ways that native social analytics do not allow. Metrics such as engagement, reach and conversion rates are valuable to understand what’s working and what’s not — and platforms such as Dash Hudson offer even more sophisticated metrics, such as Entertainment Score, to rank how entertained audiences were by your content on a scale of 1 to 10, or Dash Hudson's Predictive Vision AI, which uses AI to give a star rating to content that will perform well with audiences before you even post it.

Lean Into Stunning Visuals 

Ultimately, tourism marketing is visual. High-quality images and videos make all the difference in inspiring travelers to visualize themselves at your destination. Text provides meaningful context to help drive bookings, but it is the imagery that tells the story of what your travel spot is and what experiences travelers can expect once they’re there.

Let’s look at the brands that are already doing a good job with social media marketing in the tourism industry. The following brands come from a variety of different areas and have different target audiences, but it is clear that they excel at common factors such as entertainment and creating content that resonates with audiences.

Eden Roc Cap Cana 

Luxury resort Eden Roc Cap Cana uses social to its fullest potential, combining a mix of static imagery and dynamic video to showcase guest experiences, events and seasonal highlights.

Viator

The Viator travel app has a vibrant, digital-first approach to marketing. The brand understands that social media users care about experiences, and it also pairs its content with specific aesthetics, such as colors or astrological signs, to truly inspire viewers to picture themselves in the moment.

Celebrity Cruises 

Celebrity Cruises has a robust TikTok marketing strategy, using the video format to immerse viewers in international destinations and experiences. The brand’s top-performing posts are notably behind-the-scenes footage of the crew answering questions and having fun.

Explore Charleston

Explore Charleston uses TikTok to partner with local businesses, tourist destinations and independent creators to create a compelling narrative about the city’s vibrant community.

NYC Ferry 

NYC Ferry has taken a modern, trendy approach to TikTok — appealing to Gen Z riders with humorous content and all the latest trending sounds. This is a great example of an organization taking a much different approach for TikTok, as diverse channel strategies are essential for maximizing social media impact.

Breeze Airways

Breeze Airways excels at video on Instagram, including sharing a plethora of fun Reels showcasing flights, destinations and marketing campaigns. Its focus on flight staff helps give a face to the brand, while its content helps to demystify the flying experience.

Now that you know the basic steps of building a tourism marketing strategy, here are some tips to guide you throughout your social media efforts and beyond.

Leverage UGC 

UGC is one of the most effective ways to promote a destination while building and enhancing trust among existing and potential followers and customers. Photos, videos and reviews from real visitors resonate with audiences by offering authentic perspectives that traditional ads can’t replicate. 

Collaborate With Local Business

Teaming up with local businesses is a win-win strategy for your marketing efforts and the visitor experience. Restaurants, hotels, tour operators and retailers all play a role to shape a tourist’s journey. By collaborating with these partners, you can offer unique travel packages or cross-promote one another on social media to reach broader audiences.

For instance, a local restaurant might feature your destination in its Instagram posts, or a boutique hotel could offer exclusive discounts tied to your campaign. These partnerships help showcase a destination's best and create a seamless, memorable experience for visitors.

Seasonal Campaign Adjustments

Seasonal changes offer tourism brands unique and timely opportunities to stay relevant year-round. Winter might call for ski promotions or even advertisements or campaigns enticing travelers who live in cold climates to sunny locales. Leveraging social media tools like seasonal trending hashtags and themed content helps your campaigns align with calendars while creating urgency among tourists. 

Promote and Practice Sustainability

Today’s tourists are increasingly conscious of their environmental impact, making sustainability a powerful marketing tool—but only when it’s an authentic part of your brand identity. Highlighting green initiatives, whether eco-friendly accommodations, waste reduction programs or locally sourced products, helps build trust. Share authentic efforts across platforms to win over eco-conscious audiences.

Immersive Experiences Through Technology

The rise of CGI and AI marketing has changed how travelers plan their trips. Many sites offer 360-degree tours of local attractions, historical sites or unique accommodations, letting potential visitors explore destinations virtually. Sharing this content on platforms like Instagram or TikTok can inspire engagement and bookings.

Geo-Targeted Advertising

Geo-targeted advertising lets brands connect with tourists who are already near their destination. You can increase foot traffic and engagement by delivering timely deals or personalized recommendations via social platforms. Think limited-time offers for nearby attractions, restaurants, transportation and more.

Stunning visuals are a huge factor in travel — 37% of travelers in the United States used their mobile phones to find travel inspiration on social media. To make your tourism marketing as impactful as possible, brands should use a combination of compelling images and videos to entice users. 

Dash Hudson offers a suite of tools to support your tourism marketing strategy and visual content. With a wide range of features like Dash Hudson's Predictive AI, Campaigns and Social Listening, you can create better content with AI-Powered insights that predict visual performance, report on your success in just a few clicks and develop a cohesive audience profile.

What is tourism marketing?

Tourism marketing involves promoting a destination or tourism-related product or service with the goal of attracting visitors and boosting bookings.

How does social media impact tourism and travel? 

Social media has a significant impact on tourism and travel. It allows brands to reach a global audience, engage with potential travelers and showcase their unique offerings. It also provides travelers with a platform to share their experiences, influencing the decisions of others through user-generated content.

How has social media changed tourism? 

Social media has revolutionized tourism by making it more interactive and personalized. It has given travelers a way to share their experiences and opinions, and algorithms serve content to people who have expressed an interest in travel. For tourism brands, it offers a budget-friendly way to market to a large number of people.

How is social media boosting global tourism? 

Social media has removed all limitations in destination discovery. Travelers can find content about any location, get inspired by UG, and make decisions based on what they see on their feeds. Many tourist destinations have seen sudden upticks in travelers because of social media trends, which are impossible to predict but highly beneficial when they happen.