As the European Traveller Intelligence Monitor business intelligence points out, more than 60% of Spanish travellers are inspired by digital channels, which will play a fundamental role in the design of marketing and communication campaigns in the year in which international tourism will be relaunched.

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The re-launch of travel should give prominence to transversal and multichannel digital campaigns, as the majority of Spanish travellers seek inspiration from digital channels: according to data from the business intelligence platform, European Traveller Intelligence Monitor, more than 60% of Spanish travellers use online platforms of various sorts to get inspiration and to prepare for their trips. 

This is the result of the analysis of data from the European Traveller Intelligence Monitor on the behaviour of Generation X (born between 1960 and 1980), Millennials (born between 1981 and 1994) and Z (born from 1995 onwards) travellers when looking for information, recommendations and useful references during the inspiration and planning phase of a trip. The data shows that integrated digital campaigns have the ability to reach a greater proportion of the target audience, who seek information through social media, search engines, websites and recommendation sites.

In addition, recommendations from family, friends and acquaintances play an important role in the inspiration and planning phase of a trip: globally, one in five travellers rely on the opinion of people around them to make decisions about destinations, offers and tourism products, a source of inspiration that is amplified in digital environments.

The power of images: Instagram and YouTube, the favourites

The figures corresponding to the analysis of digital channels show that one in three Spanish travellers seek inspiration on Instagram, the social network par excellence for tourism; while one in five find content relevant to their travel plans on YouTube. The influence of images means that destinations and companies in the sector must take the utmost care with the audiovisual content they share on networks, both their own production as well as sponsored content or content produced by third parties. Blogs (14%) and Facebook (13%) continue to have weight as a source of travel inspiration, so they should be taken into account in digital marketing strategies and campaigns.

SEO, SEM and reviews: the importance of integrated campaigns

The results of the European Traveller Intelligence Monitor on traditional and digital inspiration channels also show the relevance of agency websites and other intermediaries (8%), search engines (11%) and reviews on specialised websites and portals, which demonstrates the importance of developing integrated, coherent and transversal online marketing and communication campaigns on various online platforms, paying special attention to content strategies, SEO and SEM.

Influencers, key for Generation Z

The generational data also shows relevant information for digital campaign planning. Generation X is more likely to search for information on search engines and travel agency websites, and to consult reviews or blogs, so campaigns targeting this audience should optimise their SEO and SEM strategies to refine positioning in search results.

Millennials also rely heavily on comments from other people and search engine results, but are more inclined to look to social media content for inspiration, especially photos and videos on Instagram, the network of choice for Generation Z, who also seek inspiration from YouTube videos and content generated by influencers and celebrities who match their tastes and interests. It is precisely among those born after 1995 where there is the greatest potential for accelerated growth in the use of other alternative content platforms, such as podcasts or TikTok, so tourism brands should explore their possibilities and formats to prepare actions in the near future.

In addition to the changes that have occurred in the means of inspiration for travellers in recent years, we must add the exponential growth of users in the digital environment, as well as the increase in time of use that has occurred as a result of the pandemic. This change in habits is reflected in the data from the most recent advertising investment report (Infoadex Study 2021), whose data show that digital channels occupied, in 2020, the first position in volume of investment by advertisers in Spain, a trend that will be consolidated in 2021.

Ana Márquez

Public Relations Director