How to Sell Travel to Millennials and Gen Zs Through TikTok and Instagram

The next generation of travel shoppers – Millennials (26-41) and Gen Zs (10-25) – are gaining market power, and the best way to reach them is through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Over the past decade, the social media revolution has transformed the way consumers plan trips and make travel decisions, from researching travel ideas to seeking a travel advisor to using social platforms as their primary means of communication instead of e- Mail.

Videos, roles, tiktoks and memes
We all know that videos, reels, TikToks and memes have taken over the world of travel marketing.

Kelli Bertram, travel consultant at Come and See Travel said: “I post a lot on social media. Most of my recommendations come from Instagram and TikTok. I post daily in my stories about what I do during the day, behind the scenes of my work or my life. I also use Reels and TikTok videos. I’m 28 and most people my age and younger are really into short videos these days, like Reels and TikToks. I post at least four rolls a week, but usually one roll a day. I will also post three TikToks a day. These short videos are a mix of information, entertainment, inspiration and trends.”

Alyssa Dial, Brand Manager & Lead Romance Expert at LovinAway, explained her use of visual content: “Younger generations prefer to receive information in a more visual and succinct way than older generations. For example, memes are heavily used throughout millennial and Gen Z communications. When a specific meme is trending on social media platforms, LovinAway uses this graphic to create a unique meme that connects our brand to the trend. In addition to memes, reels on Instagram and Facebook are becoming more important than static photos. Therefore, our agents collect more video content at the destination to market to our target audience.”

Ashley Bennington, travel consultant at JCo Travel, also uses TikTok to keep up with travel trends. “Then I take and adapt my own social media content to follow trends, whether it’s a viral song or a travel destination that seems really hot at the moment.”

Be authentic
The most important consideration when using social media to market a travel company is to be authentic, to have a personal brand that people can relate to and trust.

“I’m a strong believer in personal branding for travel consultants,” said Will Medina, President of Destination Weddings Expert, LLC. “In an industry of tech giants like OTAs, connecting on a personal level and building trust is the only way to be competitive. We use our profiles to inform and nurture our followers/fans with relevant content for our niche, which is destination weddings. Our approach is to be authentic, unfiltered and build authority by showing them we have first-hand experience to help them plan and book their group trip to Mexico and the Caribbean.”

Bertram advised: “Just literally be yourself. I tell people all the time the reason people follow me and book with me is because it is me. I create content that makes me personable. I’m not trying to be super fancy or perfect and people have told me they can trust me. I look to other travelogues for inspiration and ideas, but I always tailor my content to suit me and my ideal client. The second time I try too hard and try to be someone I’m not is when my audience calls my bluff and stops trusting me.”

“Being genuine” is also key to Bennington: “My brand has to be genuine. I am a mother of four and work full-time as a nurse while traveling. While I make travel look glamorous on my social media, I’m also very real about issues people can encounter while traveling and also in my own crazy life. Being genuine on social media isn’t as common as it should be and people really seem to relate to it.”

Bennington also stressed, “They don’t sell trips. You develop one relationship with your customers. Customers want to get to know you and trust you. Once this is done, the booking part of the trip is easy.”

What not to post
Sometimes you know what you should Not do is a good approach. As Bennington explained, “Don’t constantly post sales or calls to action. I try to post content to show people different travel destinations, tips, and the benefits of using a travel advisor. I don’t post sales unless it’s a discount that’s deeper than usual or would apply to a large portion of my customer base.”

Medina learned “Not wasting virtual real estate with deals and travel deals. In my niche, pricing is very dynamic and my ideal client would want to work with someone they trust, have their back and know how to manage group contracts and not get the cheapest deal.”

Both Betram and Tyler Stiscak, travel consultant at CS Elements Travel, also discovered that paying for sponsored ads on social media wasn’t worth the cost as they didn’t generate enough conversions.

Top performing posts
The travel consultants we surveyed gave details of their top-performing social media posts, all of which can be used as fodder for brainstorming a list of post ideas of your own.

“Right now, my most viral TikTok is a tour of a resort in Cabo. I recorded b-roll of the resort and then did a voiceover explaining the resort and why I like it,” Bertram said. “My currently most viral Instagram reel is an inspirational video with trendy sound. This video has a lot of b-roll of me in Europe and the trendy sound with lyrics is on top of the video.”

Similarly, Bennington’s #1 post was one “I made on the way home from my recent trip to Mexico with a viral TikTok sound. It got pulled into the algorithm and was about 5x better than most of my other posts.”

Medina’s highest-perspective entry “came from a 30-second reel that did my infamous ‘walk down the aisle’ at one of the resort’s pavilions in Punta Cana.”

Stiscak explained that some of her best posts were “Aerial shots of our trip to the Maldives! We stayed at six different resorts with overwater bungalows, were transported by seaplanes and spent three nights on a private yacht. Many of our best views came from that trip.”

What about Facebook?
Is Facebook past its heyday? It really depends on your agency’s target market.

“I use Instagram and TikTok the most,” says Bertram. “I connected my Instagram to my Facebook. So when I post a photo on Instagram, it’s automatically posted to my Facebook business page. I think people my age [28] and younger no longer use Facebook. We keep it for family but we don’t engage there like we do on Instagram and TikTok. I still want to keep my older audience and clients, which is why I still have a Facebook page.”

At Medina’s agency, “our primary platforms are Instagram and Facebook (especially private Facebook groups),” he said. “I prefer to use those two because that’s where my ideal customer is (still) hanging out. While TikTok is a strong player right now, we haven’t seen a decline in our couples migrating in a way that makes us want to abandon ship. Although we are present on TikTok, it is important to have a clear strategy and niche. At the moment, Facebook and Instagram are still the two drivers in my niche.”

Maintaining a consistent social media presence can be daunting. Maybe you’re already promoting your travel brand on Facebook and Instagram, and now it’s time to consider expanding to TikTok. Whichever platform(s) you choose, Stiscak has this piece of advice: “Always remember to be thoughtful. Try to post music/content that is fun and always in good taste – and have fun doing it! You can tell when it’s “forced” and when people can see that you’re passionate about your business.”

ALG Vacations led the field this year when they launched their annual Ask a Travel Advisor campaign. This campaign opened the doors for travel advisors in the US, gave them customer contacts, drove traffic to their businesses and demonstrated the true value a travel advisor brings to consumers everywhere. The strength of this campaign focused on social media, travel and celebrity influencers, as well as the launch of several trending social handles. So get social and find engaging posts to share, talk travel with potential customers and get inspired to create your own content by following ALG Vacations® @AskATravelAdvisorALGV on Facebook and TikTok. You can also tune in to our ALGV podcast, Travel Beat, which shares new travel tips weekly. Download from your favorite store today!