At the time of this writing, there were 117 Mn views for videos relating to a handful of search terms about cheap flights on TikTok. Created by everyday users like you and me, search terms such as cheap flights, cheap flight hacks, cheap flights website and similar, are finding a new home on TikTok.
Once primarily known for its short-form video content, TikTok is now emerging as an unexpected yet powerful player in the travel industry. With its global user base exceeding 1 billion active users, TikTok is transforming the way people discover and book their travel experiences. This shift is not just a passing trend but a significant movement towards how younger generations, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, are leveraging social platforms for travel planning.
Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefer searching on TikTok and Instagram over Google Search and Maps, according to Google’s internal data. Source – TechCrunch.
TikTok’s user base is remarkably engaged, with users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app. This engagement is not just limited to entertainment; it’s evolving into a robust tool for travel discovery and inspiration. The visual and immersive nature of TikTok videos offers users a window into potential travel destinations, accommodations, and experiences in a way that traditional search engines cannot.
Tripit surveyed 1,000 Americans and discovered that a significant majority of younger travelers turn to TikTok and Instagram for travel ideas: 69% of respondents from Gen-Z and millennial generations reported finding their travel inspiration on social media platforms. Among these, 44% specifically mentioned using TikTok for their travel explorations.
According to TikTok global app data, the platform inspires 74% of unplanned purchases of travel-related products or activities.
Most importantly, ‘96% of TikTok users think that ‘travel is important to them’.
Source – TikTok for Business
Most hotel owners and in-house marketing teams we speak to are millennials and older, who are not necessarily comfortable in front of a camera, documenting a ‘day in the life’.
In our opinion, TikTok marketing has brought things back full circle. Social Media content creation used to be the intern’s job, before it became big business and specialized agencies popped up. For independent hotels, offering freebies and doing paid collabs with influencers to create content on a regular basis is not always financially feasible. Social Media agencies are apt at capturing those perfect moments ‘for the gram’, but the authenticity and spontaneity that TikTok demands is hard to replicate by an agency, at least on a budget. We believe, to start things off, Hotels should have a designated TikToker for short-form content production.
For performance driven social media advertising though, you can always call us!