Revista de investigación turística y hotelería

The Impact of Travel Bloggers and Vloggers on the Tourism Industry.

Harry Thomas

What drives travellers to book specific destinations, in specific hotels, on that exact tour and then at that attraction? These days it’s more than safe to say the internet is playing a role. And a significant one at that thanks to influencers in travel.The influence the Internet has on the travel industry is astronomical. From celebrities gloating about their tropical vacations in the Bahamas to your high school friend’s Snapchat story about their trip to South America - travel has never been more in our face. Or better yet, in our potential customer’s faces. This is a form of the social influence. The influence travellers’ blogging and use of social media to tell their travel stories is having on other travellers is immense. A staggering 74% of travellers got their travel ideas from social media last year. The amount of research travellers are doing online before booking flights, hotels, tours or activities has skyrocketed. More than 148.3 million people use the internet to make reservations for their accommodation alone. That’s over 57% of all travel reservations each year.