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Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are replacing word-of-mouth recommendations for Millennials
Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Millions of Millennials and GenZ-ers are increasingly turning to social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to choose their next travel destination, replacing “word-of-worth” recommendations.
According to the 2023 Global Travel Trends Report published recently by American Express, about 75% of respondents have been inspired by social media to travel to a specific destination while 64% of respondents agree that they have been inspired to travel to a destination after seeing it featured on a TV show, news source or movie. Close to 50% of respondents interviewed say they want to travel somewhere they can show off on social media.
While word-of-mouth recommendations remain strong across age groups, with 47% of respondents citing friends-and-family recommendations as a deciding factor in where they travel, the next generation of travellers is also heavily influenced by social media and pop culture.
About 70% of Gen-Z and Millennial respondents particularly agree that they have been inspired to visit a destination after seeing it featured in a TV show, news source, or movie.
According to the report, the number of social media users worldwide has swelled to an impressive 4.9 billion people in 2023, and two-thirds of this huge user base uses social media channels to research brands and get recommendations. “So, it is no surprise that social media remains the top spot for the next generation of travelers when finding travel destinations,” says the report.
Good looks in photos
The Global Travel Trends report revealed other interesting facts about the new generation of travelers’ behaviour. More than 60% of them have chosen a destination because it looks good in photos, and nearly half of all respondents said they wanted to travel to a place they can show off on social media.
Also, nearly 80% of GenZ-ers and Millennials would love partaking in a day in the life of locals in the destination they are visiting, and half of them plan an entire trip around going to a specific restaurant and trying local food and cuisine.
Meanwhile, although inflation continues rising prices in many tourist destinations, 2023 is set to witness a record number of people traveling for a vacation.
According to a Statista survey, more than 1.86 billion people will spend money on package holidays, hotels, private vacation rentals, camping, and cruises this year, 200 million more than in 2022, pushing the total travel and tourism industry revenue to new highs.
Statista expects travelers and tourists to spend over US$854bn in 2023, or US$120bn more than last year, showing the entire market has fully recovered and outgrown pre-COVID-19 levels.
Hotels, as the market’s largest segment, will generate almost half of that value, or roughly US$408bn. Package holidays will bring-in another US$280bn while vacation rentals and camping will follow, with US$96.8bn and US$43.8bn in revenue, respectively. Projections say the travel and tourism sectors are set to become a one-trillion-dollar industry by 2027.
