Travel influencers and social media commerce

21-03-23

The goal of travel marketers has always been to build efficient direct relationships with consumers, cost-effectively extending brand reach, improving traveller engagement and maximising customer lifetime value. 

Data privacy regulation (e.g. the impending demise of third-party cookies) is disrupting digital advertising by reducing the relevance of important targeting data, which will further increase the importance of direct-to-consumer relationships. 

Travel brands, particularly hoteliers, compete with online travel agencies (OTAs) that make approximately 50% of online hotel bookings in the US.

Accommodation bookings also generate most of the OTAs' profitability. In the highly fragmented travel and activities sector, 52% of bookings are made through intermediary channels and only 25% of bookings are currently processed online. 

The confluence of these forces creates a catalyst for engaging directly with consumers through social commerce, a fast-growing sector in which travel is lagging behind.

According to one projection, social commerce in the US alone will more than double from $37 billion in 2021 to $80 billion in 2025, growing its share of total e-commerce sales to 5.2%.