TRAVEL NEWS – September 18, 2023: Where do you find inspiration for your next trip or holiday? What are the most popular sources for travel inspiration in 2023? In recent years there seems to be a shift from paper and Google to Social Media, but what do the figures say? Wereldreizigers.nl decided to investigate where Dutch people get their travel inspiration in 2023. In this article we share the results of this research.
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Important results from the research
- In 51, approximately half (2023%) of Dutch people surveyed will still primarily use travel blogs as a source of travel inspiration or to search for holidays and trips.
- Facebook travel groups are still extremely popular.
- TikTok and Instagram are slowly gaining ground, but for how long?
Result of research
Travel blogs as the most inspiring source
In 2023, travel blogs are still by far the most important medium for inspiring, searching and booking trips and holidays. However, a large part of this is done via Google's search engine. Of a total of 1.507 votes, 51% voted for travel blogs as the most inspiring source. The total of 51% is divided into two separate categories. 21% of respondents indicate that they navigate directly to travel blogs and 30% mainly search for travel blogs via Google.
Facebook follows
Facebook, especially the many specific travel groups, is still doing very well at 21%. This is followed by 11% in favor travel organizations. Travel organizations also have a mix of direct navigation (5%) and Google searches (6%).
The other media
The media Instagram (6%), travel guides (4%), TikTok (2%), YouTube (2%) and other (3%) account for the remainder.
Simplified result
The purpose of the research is to see what sources of travel inspiration will be popular in 2023. Due to the different Social Media channels, there is some overlap in the different choices for respondents. That's why we finally have a simplified representation of the results below. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube have been combined into one category, namely Social Media. Together, Social Media amounts to 31%, which is a considerably large share.
How was the research conducted?
This was done via the newsletter and social media channels Wereldreizigers.nl sent a statement to which people could respond in an accessible manner. Voting took place via a poll with pre-selected choices in which it could be indicated what people use as a primary source for travel inspiration. Of the 32.000 people who saw the message in their mailbox or on Social Media, a total of 1.507 (4,7%) responded by voting.
The statement was: When I am looking for information or want to be inspired for a trip or holiday, I mainly look for…
The options to choose from:
- Travel organizations (direct or via Google)
- Instagram (general, reels & stories)
- Facebook (general, stories and travel groups)
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Travel blogs (direct or via Google)
- Guides
- Otherwise, namely…
Who voted?
Young people may be more focused on social media, while older people probably prefer to consult a physical magazine or book. To get a better idea of the actual target group of this research, in addition to the preference for the medium, the ratio between men and women and the different ages was also examined.
Man or woman
Below you will see an overview of the ratio between men and women who voted. Of the 1.507 respondents, 59% were women and 41% men.
Ages
Below you will see an overview of the ratio between the different age groups. Of the total of 1.507 respondents, 33% are aged 25 to 34 years. 24% are represented by the 35 to 44 age group followed by 12% in the 55 to 64 age group. The last ones are 18-24 years old at 6% and 65+ at 4%.
Conclusion and forecast for 2024
Although we expected that social media, especially TikTok and Instagram, would be very important sources of travel inspiration in 2023, the figures give a different picture. However, we must make a comment on this.
Among the respondents in our research, it is clear that millennials (18 to 24 years old) are considerably underrepresented. For example, a study by Booking.com already showed that in 2019 37% of millennials actively use social media to get inspired for their next trip or holiday. Our own research indicates that this will be 'only' 2023% in 31, while you would expect this to have grown in recent years.
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The shrinkage may have something to do with the growing group of young people who are increasingly looking for 'offline travel' in nature? Is the end of the social media hype among young people already in sight? It is difficult to draw conclusions from that.
What is clear is that the largest group (24 to 64 years old) in 2023 will mainly use travel blogs and Google as a source for inspiration, holidays and travel.
It is therefore extremely interesting to repeat this research in the coming years to see how trends shift. Will we see a major(er) shift to social media channels TikTok and Instagram in 2024? Will we start looking more for offline travel inspiration or will AI perhaps play a role?
Time will tell...
Remark: All results, texts and images from the news article may be reused under the condition that a source reference is added (https://www.wereldreizigers.nl/).
