AI and Instagram Reshape Travel’s Social Media Future

New TravelTech Show data reveals a sharp shift in social media’s marketing and business performance for travel companies. TikTok’s impact has fallen significantly, delivering results for just 9% of travel operators (down from 19% in 2025).

Instagram now leads, driving results for 61% of the 100+ operators surveyed – nearly doubling its impact since 2024 (37%) – and overtaking Facebook as the top platform for marketing and business generation.

Elsewhere, LinkedIn has also dropped significantly, falling from 70% to 42% over the past three years.

It is estimated that social media usage has tripled in the last 10 years and nearly 70% of the world’s population now use social media worldwide*. Results across the TravelTech Show survey from the last three years detail a marked shift across the major platforms in terms of their marketing performance and business impact for travel companies:

	2026	2025	2024
Instagram	61%	58%	37%
Facebook	47%	63%	26%
LinkedIn	42%	52%	70%
Whatsapp	23%	19%	22%
TikTok	9%	19%	7%

13% of respondents stated most of their customers, bookings and website traffic come from social media and influencers, via online search.

When asked how they are planning to invest in their online presence in the year ahead, social media will receive an equal share of budget alongside AI and website content:

Commenting on the results TravelTech Show sales manager Thauan (Ty) Albuquerque said, “Social media platforms have scaled significantly in the last decade to establish themselves as a valuable trading floor for travel brands as well as their shop window. It’s interesting to see Instagram leapfrog LinkedIn and Facebook in just two years. However, the most significant shift has been the decline of the impact of the Gen Z popular platform TikTok. For travel operators this raises the question of where next to invest online to harness brand loyalty and safeguard future customers and revenue. While many are already investing in AI and chatbots as well as social media platforms and website content, alongside this is the need to maintain a sharp focus on the customer journey and booking behaviours.

“Search behaviours are changing and becoming more nuanced across the market. Given the age of the majority of TikTok subscribers, our research suggests this change is happening at its fastest rate amongst Gen Z. This is the generation which is increasingly combining AI with social media to research, book and pay for trips, and it will be interesting to see how TikTok’s latest in-app booking launch – TikTok GO – will perform against this backdrop. As search tools, content, audiences and platforms continue to diversify it is more vital than ever that travel operators keep pace with where, how and when to invest in the right content and platform for their business”.

Visitors to this year’s TravelTech Show should check out “The new social battleground: Tik Tok vs Instagram and the rise of “influencer-to-booking” session which will examine how social media is impacting the customer journey and how influencer platforms can drive brand awareness and sales.

TravelTech Show is Europe’s only travel technology marketplace, built for business. It takes place 24-25 June 2026 at Excel London. Registration is open now and free to attend for travel technology specialists involved in or responsible for the technology within their travel business and consultants who help travel businesses select technology solutions.