The New Generation of Travel Creators - Part One

Creators are already changing how we discover, plan and book travel - we just don’t see the full picture yet.

We believe that creators are crucial to the future of travel, and our mission at Travis is to empower a new generation of travel creators to earn. This is Part 1 of a three-part blog series, exploring:

• Part 1: New Generation of Travel Creators - who are they, and what is their superpower?
• Part 2: Evolution of travel creators - the shifts and challenges that converge to this tipping point
• Part 3: Creator-led Commerce for the Future of Travel - a win-win-win for the industry

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Travel Creators: Who are they?

A new generation of travel creators looks very different now than it did even 5 years ago. No longer are they mega-celebrity influencer status with 2M followers and an unattainable lifestyle at a distance - more likely than not, they are individuals who look just like you and me.

Travel creators today are individuals who create content and are recognised as a credible source of information for a specific niche, through the use of social media to reach and grow an audience. They vary in audience size - anywhere from 1000 to 1M followers, and could be doing it part-time or full time. But before you think “My friend shares holiday photos twice a year - she’s a creator.” - they generally also share these traits:

• Creators create and post content at a high frequency, regularly - usually every day, on 1 or more social media platforms
• Creators create with the intent to share, inform, educate, or entertain others
• Creators have an intent to grow their reach
• Most importantly, creators have an intent to monetise from their content

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The Power of Micro-Creators in Travel

Of the 200 million creators in the world today (estimates Linktree’s Creator Report), 70% (139 million) have between 1-10k followers, and 21% (41 million) have between 10-100k followers. These 1-100k creators are the biggest and fastest growing segment of creators - and it also holds true in the world of travel.

Our own creator research shows that they are more likely to be doing this part time while holding down a full time job, and less likely to have a recurring income stream as a creator. However, there is high intent to move from part time to full time within the next 12 months, and grow their creator income.

So what is the crucial role that micro-creators play in the future of travel?

1. Higher trust and engagement within a niche community - Across social media platforms, micro-influencers generally have a higher engagement rate, than mega-Kardashian level influencers. The frequency and depth at which micro creators interact with their community means that people are constantly being exposed to their content, growing trust and credibility over time.‍‍

2. New, distribution channels to unlock access to new audiences - From a tourism brand or destination perspective, having a diversity of micro-creators share experiences with your brand, provides a more organic way of developing awareness within that niche. The potential to reach new audiences here is huge.

3. Representation connects - Core to the power of micro-creators, is the relatability of the individual to their community. We see that this results in more diversity in the narrative of travel - this could include creators from a range of different cultural and language backgrounds, upbringings, travel styles, budget levels, work and career experiences. For example, a black 24 year old female traveling solo, early 30s gay couple working freelance and traveling the world, or 28 year old Asian female working in big tech while moving to Mexico. This representation is crucial in making travel more accessible to different types of people, and in encouraging more awareness about different types of travel, brands, destinations, and cultures.

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Just think about your own experience - how do you discover new places to visit in new cities? Have you watched an Instagram story of someone’s hotel room/resort/villa/treehouse walkthrough, or a TikTok or YouTube vlog of the 6 things to do for a weekend in [insert dream city of choice]?

From a consumer perspective, more content means unlimited discovery. But as a traveler - imagine if you could, simply by scrolling through content on your daily social hour, click through an Instagram story link to land on the hotel / activity page in question, and have the path to make a booking if you wanted to - or save to complete it at a later date. Oh - the hours, even days of research and comparison across booking sites that this would save!

Micro-creators in travel are the biggest and fastest-growing segment, with the highest engagement levels - but also the highest barriers to earning a recurring income. We believe that the future of travel relies on creators. And Travis is empowering a new generation of travel creators to earn, with the tools and infrastructure to share and earn from brands they are already driving bookings for.

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Read on for Part 2: The Evolution of Creators in Travel.

If you’re a creator, get started with Bookable Links. If you’re a traveler, plan your trips on Moodboards. If you’re a hotel, find out more. Want to share a related experience or perspective? Email hello@travistravis.co.

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