How is social media shaping your travel experience?

Where do you think your next travel destination is coming from? Whether it’s before, during or after traveling, social networks will impact your holiday experiences — but should it really be that way?

Based on the theory of influence (Influence, Robert B. Cialdini. PH. D.), any decisions one makes will be heavily influenced by their friends: we tend to give our friends’ opinions a great deal of importance when it comes to making decisions, and research is there to back up the theory : a significant number of Facebook users relied on their friend’s pictures to plan their holidays. Travelers will trust a comment, a rating coming from a trusted source, or his social network more than he/she will trust advertising.
The prominence of platforms like Facebook and Instagram means that we’re inundated with picturesque sceneries on our loved-ones profiles, leaving us to wonder; should I go there too?

Similarly to the great influence our friends and family have on our choices, people will give a great deal of importance to their favorite travel bloggers/photographers, particularly those with a very heavy presence online: they’ll tell you that people travel to places only because they’ve seen their pictures on Instagram.

How good is all this you might ask? Well, there are many sides to the social media + travel duo, and the picture isn’t always a pretty one…

We wanted to ask experts in the picture-perfect travel industry about their views on social media and traveling; and who better to ask than someone who’s visited every single country on earth?

Johnny is the very definition of what harnessing the power of social media while traveling can do; not only he has accomplished the amazing feat that is to visit every single country in the world (yes, you read that right, every single one!), he also became a millionaire by doing it! (and yes, you read that right again — a millionaire!)

Yet, I was as surprised as you might be to hear that despite social media’s role in helping Johnny build the coveted life he now has, he doesn’t spend more than a mere 20mins a day on social media!

We’ve asked the successful entrepreneur about what he thinks of social media — take a listen!

Echoing Johnny’s message is Mark Izatt, a global & communications consultant, similarly thinks that we should be disciplined about how we use social media while traveling, if anything to enhance the experience.

According to Mark Izatt, social networks are a way of sharing experiences before being a way of making memories.

With the rise of SNS (social networking sites), traveler’s habits have changed significantly. Mark stays connected while traveling, whether it’s with family, friends, or a group of strangers sharing the same interest for a particular destination, activity or food.

In parallel, sharing traveling experiences is also an efficient way to create an appealing social network profile. Traveling gets one support and connections from other communities and helps builds a significant digital footprint. Think about how many of your friends have their latest travel shots as their profile picture on Facebook?

Mark’s view is that social media is a great source of inspiration for people to find the perfect destination, thanks the tech focused travel industry, and also one of the most powerful ways for destinations and businesses to promote themselves — however moderation in social media consumption remains the key message ; take a listen.

Social media has had a great impact in the travel industry as a marketing tool to promote destinations, particularly Instagram.

The example of the Çinque Taere , Italy, is interesting a case ; before Instagram made it into the sought after destination it is today, this beautiful coastal region of Italy was only known to a few. The local economy has benefited from it greatly and locals enjoy the horde of tourist flocking to the small and beautiful villages, saying it brings a little excitement to an otherwise quiet place.

Another example is Santorini, Greece which has become one of the trendiest destinations over the past few years. Similarly to Cinque Terre, Instagram was an important contributing factor in this development, transforming a quiet island into an over-crowded place. So much so that some hotels and restaurants decided to open 365 days/year to respond to the influx of people.

However, the large amount of people coming to Santorini isn’t without a hefty cost to the environment and cultural heritage of the island. To try and limit the damages, authorities decided to set a limit on the amount of cruise arrivals, as a step towards preserving (or perhaps saving!) this stunning location.

In the digital era we live in, we can all agree that anyone traveling will use social media (with perhaps the exception of very few) and the question to ask is, with all the negative impacts social media is causing on a wide spectrum, should’t we make an effort to travel without it?

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