Have you noticed it? Instagram has become the place to catalog our personal experiences.
Tourism today is not the same as it was 20 years ago. Currently, there are endless new types of tourism (spiritual, gastronomic and even health, just to mention a few) and we are potential ambassadors of each monument, town and commercial or artisanal activity that we know.
STUDIES ON INSTAGRAM
According to a recent study on Instagram for the tourism industry, this network is used by 48% of users to discover and choose tourist destinations, and 35% of users to discover new places to visit. Because those who are there to advise you are your friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances: people you know and trust.
This intrinsic strength of Instagram has also been discovered by brands, which in recent times have chosen to offer more humanized, visually attractive content focused on the desire to travel and know that is part of each of us.
Gone are the cold language and the stuffy advertising materials: tourism has become humanized. Instagram is no longer just a social channel, but a personal guide, a small tourism agency, almost today’s travel agent. Its monthly base of 400 million active users is interesting for companies (and not only) and among all, the winner is whoever responds to our expectations, satisfies our desires and shows us attractive and desirable content.
INSTAGRAM AND TOURISM
The starting point of many accounts related to regions and places is the valuation of the destination. The US Department of the Interior uses its Instagram account to present the most spectacular places in the country every day, showing their natural beauty and promoting the region around the world, as anyone proud of the place they were born and raised would do.
With these Instagram posts, the Department has maximized the visibility of real-time landscapes and information that would otherwise have been rarely seen in government materials. And, at the same time, it has also given visibility to professional photographers who have wanted to support the cause by getting involved.
With the same concept (although without border limits) every day, Airbnb publishes on its Instagram account the most spectacular places in the world, moving naturally from Chile to California or Norway, telling true stories with a great inspiring effect, where the protagonists are the users. Stories that make you dream of happy endings, that do good to the heart and that generate empathetic connections with the brand.
An example of a collaboration network between structures in a region is taking place, still as an embryonic experience, in Tivoli, Italy.
All the communes around the 98km of the Aniene River have decided to collaborate and carry forward the image of the territory in its entirety, thus reducing expenses and efforts, and exhibiting what the region has to offer. Along “the street of water” it will be possible to live biking experiences, spiritual paths, delicious culinary experiences and much more in a few kilometers, without losing sight of the identity of each municipality: each one offers its typical products in the best way.
INSTAGRAM CHANGES TOURISM
Let us not forget that one of the strengths of Instagram, in addition to being a visual instrument and strongly linked to mobile phones, is today its possibility of discovering and telling stories, traditions and the culture of religion. Only those who look at a destination with loving eyes can show the best of it. And if the lovers then create a spontaneous, authentic and strong community, imagine how this can benefit the region in question.
Here’s why spontaneous interactions on Instagram: we find people who speak, inspire and involve others by telling stories, emotions and details so unique that no one else could show. This is the true wealth, the true strength of Instagram.
How tourism has changed with Instagram: the destinations do not change, the concept of hospitality does not change, but the perspectives through which we want to know a destination have changed, the instruments for dividing the emotions experienced, the action/reaction times of our experiences have changed. We want to immerse ourselves in a region, feel part of it, be able to blend in with the locals: we are citizens of the world and Instagram allows us to savor sensations and experiences that, perhaps, we will live on our next trip.
This post is also available in: