Partnering with Travel Influencers

Travel destinations can’t afford to overlook the impact of travel influencers anymore. The days of newspaper reviews driving customers to hotels are behind us. Now, just one post from a travel influencer on Instagram can flood hotel booking pages with enquiries.

The 2024 American Express Global Travel Trends report found that 39% of travellers pick their destinations based on social media posts – second only to recommendations from friends and family. And a study found that a remarkable 60% of US TikTok users were inspired to visit a destination based on videos they had seen on the platform.

That’s why the majority of travel brands now use influencer marketing to drive sales.

But not all influencers are created equal. It takes time and effort to sift through the real influencers and the phoneys (you know, the ones who buy their likes and followers).

That’s part of the reason brands come to the Luxury Retreats Club. Because we vet every influencer before approving them as member. This way we can let brands know the audience analytics and engagement rates of our members when they advertise a complimentary trip with us.

But enough about us, here is our ultimate guide to partnering with travel influencers:

The ROI of Travel Influencer Marketing for Travel Firms

The first thing every brand wants to know is what their ROI (Return On Investment, for the uninitiated) will be before they pay for an influencer campaign.

You can read our helpful article on the ways to track the ROI of a travel influencer campaign here.

Many marketers concentrate on short-term goals to measure the success of their efforts. Think click-through rates, impressions, and social media shares. These are all easily quantifiable metrics – making it easy to tell if a social media campaign has been successful.

However, it is important to also consider the long-term consequences of campaigns. These harder to measure factors include brand awareness, trust, SEO authority, customer relationships and customer retention. It can take months or even years for these benefits to materialise, making them easy to overlook for brands.

Usually a brand wants to see a direct correlation between an influencer campaign and bookings. Although this is difficult to achieve, certain tools such as Google Analytics can help brands gain an insight into the ROI from a campaign.

By asking influencers to include a Google Analytics link in their posts/bio, brands can track how many social media users are “converted” into customers through a campaign.

Travel influencers help boost bookings, create trust, and increase brand visibility. Working with trusted influencers leads to real results and a better return on investment.

PR agencies vs direct partnerships

Hotels often pay a PR agency to get a travel influencer into their hotel to help boost bookings.

Specialist travel PR agencies usually have a roster of influencers they can call upon to work with a hotel. They will then craft a campaign to promote the property. However, the downside of this method is obvious – PR firms can be costly and often demand a monthly retainer.

Hotels also find influencers through direct communication – either an influencer approaching them, or the hotel approaching an influencer. However, this can be extremely time-consuming for hotels as there is no guarantee an influencer will be interested in staying with them.

And the hotel has to verify each influencer’s following (checking engagement rates, follower analytics etc) to make sure they are a good fit for their business. They then must negotiate the coverage they wish to get in exchange for the stay (e.g. 1 Instagram post and 1 Instagram story).

To read more about how UK travel influencers get free holidays, click here.

The Best Way for Hotels to Find Travel Influencers

The Luxury Retreats Club helps hotels save time and money by working directly with them and PR firms – for free.

We advertise free hotel stays to our members, meaning hotels don’t have to approach each influencer individually. Instead, we send a trip opportunity out to our members – who have all expressed interest in receiving free holidays – and collect applications from them on the hotel’s behalf.

Additionally, we help hotels by collecting the engagement rates/follower analytics for each member that applies for a trip. And we make the requirements for each free stay (e.g. 1 Instagram post) clear in our trip adverts on the members-only portal.

Finally, our members also sign strict agreements to prevent them from not turning up for a trip – or failing to post the agreed content afterwards.

Case Study: Hotel’s 70k+ Views From Influencer Trip

Luxury Retreats Club member Alexandra Legouix secured more than 70,000 views for a hotel in Morocco after landing a trip to the dream destination through our website.

The influencer posted videos from her stay on TikTok and Instagram, showing her enjoying the trip of a lifetime at the luxury beachside resort. Her Instagram stories throughout her stay showed her enjoying cookery classes, riding horses and practising yoga at Fleewinter’s blissful Kasbah d’Eau hotel.

Her posts resulted in a spike in traffic on the Fleewinter website and helped boost the company’s social media following.

Ready to boost your brand? Sign up with Luxury Retreats Club today and connect with trusted influencers!