A HEALTHY REMINDER 🔮
ViralMoment uses AI to analyze user-generated content on TikTok: your crystal ball for short-form social media trends.
TikTok takes on travel
Discovery > search.
For the OG TikTok squad, it’s been known that the platform has been taking over the travel and leisure industry by storm – the amount of times I’ve had to physically restrain myself from purchasing that viral backpack is unholy. So it’s #aboutdamntime big media caught wind.
Let’s get into it.
A senior VP at Google shared that nearly 40% of young folks refer to TikTok or Instagram when ‘travel shopping’ – which encompasses anything from deciding on dream destinations to scoping out hidden gems to securing local doodads.
The CEO of MMGY Global, a travel and hospitality marketing agency, explained:
“Early decision-making is where a lot of our respondents talk about how TikTok influences their decision of where to go and where to stay, whereas Google, especially as they get more aggressive against online travel agencies, has moved down.”
As a result, Google unveiled a strategy to redesign Google Search for the TikTok generation to highlight snippets that appear in places like Maps, products, and other visual content.
Indeed, these days, travel shopping is much less about searching, and more about discovery – and short-form content, particularly when it’s user-generated – is most effective for curating and optimizing experiences.
Here’s a quick rundown of TikTok’s influence on dining, according to a recent Restaurant Business report:
72% said good-looking food made them want to eat at a certain restaurant
53% ordered from a restaurant after seeing a video about it on TikTok
45% became interested in a restaurant after seeing an interesting food item
42% tried a restaurant because a TikTok video made it look fun
30% traveled further and paid more than usual to dine somewhere they’d seen on TikTok
Be it as immediate as grabbing lunch or booking flights to your bachelorette party a year out, short-form content is the clear front-runner because of its ability to capture immediate attention at the peak point of interest.