How Instagram Can Help You Sell Travel

As a luxury advisor, you already know how valuable Instagram can be when selling travel. Just as important as the app is to you, is its importance to your clients.

A survey conducted by home insurance company Schofields asked over 1,000 UK adults between the ages of 18 and 33 years old what the most important factor when choosing a holiday destination. The response: “how Instagrammable the holiday would be.”

Just over 40 percent (40.1) of those surveyed replied with the answer. The second through fifth-most important factors were, in order: cost/availability of alcohol (24), personal development (22.6), chances to experience the local cuisine (9.4), and opportunities for sightseeing (3.9).

With this in mind, it’s important to know what destinations are most Instagrammable.

A study by TravelBird found the top 10 most hashtagged destinations in the U.S. and across the globe. In the States, Disneyland and Walt Disney World took the top two spots, with South Beach Miami in third. Las Vegas, Times Square, and Mardi Gras/New Orleans were all very popular, as well. Globally, The Eiffel Tower, Berlin Wall, and Big Ben were among the most hashtagged.

The UK-based online travel specialists’ survey included 470 attractions. Regarding the U.S., two attractions were researched in every state, allowing for both local gems and larger tourist destinations to be compared. A similar process was used in ten other countries. The final results compared the 400-plus most-popular destinations with their relative online presence.

Symen Jansma, founder of TravelBird, said: “The data also tells a fascinating story about the ways people are travelling in 2017, offering valuable insights for the travel and tourism industry.”

If you have clients who fall in this category, it may also help to share with them some Instagram-posting tips. Hopper HQ found that, by analyzing 1.2 million posts, that the best time to post to the site it between 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on weekdays and at 11 a.m. on weekends.

The type of content also matters when posting, with personal experiences (weight loss, travel) ranking at the top with 22 percent more likes than other images from the same accounts. Animals and scenery (sunsets, beaches, etc.) are the second- and third-most liked posts.

The next time you have a client (Millennials, in particular) who is unsure of where to travel next, the above information could assuredly help you offer destinations that they would consider. Because if you went on vacation and didn’t post about it, did you really even go on vacation?

The full results of the survey can be found here.