The use of hashtags in the tourism industry

 

The use of hashtags evolved in 2007 combined with the social media site Twitter and is now widely used across major social media programs such as Instagram and Facebook.  Hashtags can be an effective marketing tool when used right.

Hashtags have proved to be an effective marketing tool for the tourism industry allowing travel companies such as government and private tourism organisations, travel agents, travel operators and airlines to use hashtags to research consumers, target consumers and to track what competitors are doing in the industry.

These are examples of some commonly used hashtags:

#travel

#city – cities such as #newyorkcity #waikiki

#County – Countries such as #Australia #America

#holiday

Hashtags for market research

Travel companies can research hashtags to find valuable information about their target audiences. Travellers spend 2.8 hours a day on social media posting photos, reviews, updates and researching trips. What these statistics mean for e-marketers is they have the ability to see first-hand what travellers are enjoying, where they are staying, what activities they are doing, analyse what trends exist amongst travellers and what needs/wants can be met. This form of market research is a relatively inexpensive way to understand consumer behaviour.

Hash tags for campaigns

Tourism is a visual product therefore the use of hashtags is a great tool for linking to travel photos on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Many tourism companies are using hashtags as part of their online marketing campaigns. An example is #myjasper

The #myjasper campaign was a successful digital marketing campaign resulting in:

·         12,000 traveller-generated stories through instagram hashtag #MyJasper

·         185% increase in social referrals to their website year over year

·         211% increase in shareholder referral from social media year over year

The benefits of social media and the use of hashtags are creating mass market reach and online campaigns that are going viral. They are a great tool for all travel companies to think about when forming their digital marketing plans. Hashtags can lead to an increase in followings resulting in positive word of mouth and loyalty amongst customers.