Social media continues to evolve quickly, and for tour operators it can be difficult to know which trends are worth investing in and which are noise. The travel category has always performed well on visual platforms — the product is inherently photogenic — but the way audiences engage with travel content is changing. Here are the social media trends that are most relevant for travel brands right now.
Which of these social media trends could your business benefit from?
Not every trend applies equally to every travel business. A small specialist tour operator has different social media priorities to a large ferry company. The trends below are broadly relevant, but the value of each will depend on your audience, your destinations, and where your prospective customers actually spend their time online.
More stories and ‘snackable’ posts
Short-form, time-limited content — Stories on Instagram and Facebook, and equivalent formats on other platforms — continues to grow in importance for travel brands. In our experience, Stories work particularly well for behind-the-scenes content: a guide preparing for a departure, daily footage from a trip in progress, or a time-sensitive departure availability promotion. The 24-hour window creates a sense of urgency that works well for seasonal offers, and the format rewards frequent, authentic posting rather than highly polished production.
More video content
Video has become the dominant content format on most social platforms, and for travel brands this is an opportunity rather than a challenge. Short destination reels, activity highlights, and customer testimonials all perform strongly in travel social feeds. What we’ve found is that authentic, on-location video — shot by guides or genuine travellers — consistently outperforms polished brand content, particularly with audiences in the early inspiration stage of planning a trip. You don’t need a large production budget; you need consistent output and genuine storytelling.
More brands going live
Live video on Instagram and Facebook creates opportunities for tour operators to showcase the real experience of travel in a way that pre-recorded content can’t replicate. Live destination Q&As, virtual tour previews, and live departure send-offs are formats that work well for travel brands. Clients often ask us how to differentiate their social presence from competitors — live content is one of the most effective ways to do that, because it’s uniquely personal and difficult to copy at scale.
Influencer marketing becoming even more powerful
Travel influencer partnerships remain one of the most effective awareness channels for tour operators and activity providers — particularly when working with niche, destination-specific creators whose audiences align with the type of traveller you’re trying to reach. We tend to see the strongest results from mid-tier influencers (50,000–500,000 followers) who have highly engaged audiences in relevant travel niches, rather than large-reach generalist accounts whose travel content sits alongside unrelated posts. The key is audience alignment, not follower count.
More local targeting
Geographic targeting on social platforms has become increasingly sophisticated, and for travel brands this opens up possibilities beyond straightforward demographic targeting. Targeting users in specific catchment areas, or retargeting users who have visited relevant destination pages, allows tour operators to reach prospective customers with content that’s geographically relevant to their likely booking behaviour. During peak planning windows — January for summer sun, October for ski — hyper-local targeting can make your social spend significantly more efficient.
Social listening playing a key part in more strategies
Social listening — monitoring mentions of your brand, your destinations, and your competitors across social platforms — is becoming an increasingly valuable tool for travel brands. It allows you to track sentiment around destinations you operate in, respond quickly to customer questions and comments, and identify emerging trends in travel interest before they peak. For operators in competitive niches, understanding what prospective customers are asking and saying about your destinations gives you a genuine content and messaging advantage. Tools like Sprout Social and Brandwatch make this accessible without a large research investment.