Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — With the opening of the world of travel, influencers are back in motion. Some hotels welcome this news, such as the “Langham” hotel, which is located on Fifth Avenue in New York City, USA.
Louise O’Brien, Regional Director of Public Relations for the Americas at The Langham Hospitality Group, described the hotel’s people as hardworking and innovative.
“They know how to invest their skills in photography and content creation,” she explained, adding that they often “give a strong eye on the hotel, highlighting things that no one thought they would do, which makes the hotel look interesting.”
O’Brien pointed out that the “Covid-19” pandemic has contributed to the revitalization of the hotel even more, by connecting with influencers who specialize in the content industry related to staying in vacation, revealing that this approach is here to stay.
But O’Brien’s enthusiasm is not shared by all hotels.
Gail Beer, owner of the Dorp Hotel in Cape Town, Africa, calls them “Influenzaz”. She says she receives between 5 and 6 calls a week from people at odds with what the hotel’s policy represents.
“Posing a picture with clothes that barely cover the body in a hotel room does not help us, we are not after customers,” she explained.
Bear pointed out that it is enough to take a quick look at the hotel’s website to see why, as it displays carefully curated interior designs, with intimate and attractive spaces.
“Everything on the Internet is exaggerated, presented as magical or wonderful,” says Bear, which goes against what she seeks in her diary for some real magic in her hotel, such as the staff who spontaneously sing Happy Birthday, or discover a chameleon in the garden.
Richard Hanlon, owner of the majestic Bujera Fort hotel in Udaipur, India, shares Beer’s view, explaining that “the problem with influencers is the lack of quality oversight,” noting that “someone needs to rate them on TripAdvisor.”
He described the regularity of receiving strange requests from influencers, such as asking for five rooms for three nights with free airport transfers, and free alcohol, pointing out that these are not the type of customers the hotel seeks to attract and serve.
“The majority of people who contact us are 18-year-old girls who are trying to fill their void by trying to get a free gift,” he added. He continued, “When you search for them on the Instagram app, it becomes clear to you that they have bought their followers, and they are paid for their ads.”
“Don’t do it for free stays”
Despite this, Hanlon and Beer are always quick to express their admiration for professional journalists and established publications that they agree to collaborate with them, and they have been very successful with this type of partnership.
Hanlon cited a recent article about his hotel in House & Garden, explaining that the journalists were professional, and that the hotel got reservations just hours after the article was published in the magazine.
“These posts are usually not looking for freebies,” he commented. Influencer Jessica Wright, known as @bontraveler on Instagram, supports this view.
“The first thing I say to people who want to be an influencer is not to do that for free stays,” Wright explained.
Wright, who started her activity in 2014, pointed out that exploitative hackers discredit real influencers, adding that this reflects people’s underestimation of the value of the work provided by people like her.
“When we are in a place, we shoot non-stop from the moment the sun rises to sunset. I see it as my duty to capture a destination, inspire followers to go to it on social media, and publish information about it on my website and blog,” she said. She compared her work to a rigorous sales process that guides people through the different platforms they frequent, before booking their own flights.
growing industry
But with travel resuming after the pandemic, Center for Influence Marketing research shows that this type of partnership represents a large and rapidly growing market. The center expects the industry to grow to $16.4 billion this year alone, with 75% of brands allocating a budget for influencer marketing.
This has created a space for a different type of business to thrive in the market, such as a consulting business, such as “Sidewalker Daily” or “Travel Mindset”, that connects the worlds of influencers and the branding/marketing industry.
Sidewalker Daily co-founder Nina Zadeh noted the huge gap between the perception of influencers and reality.
“People tend to categorize influencers as those people who sit by the pool, or who are at the Four Seasons all day, but the space an influencer moves around in while traveling is really stressful,” she explained.
She added, “You are there for the business, with the goal of accomplishing some of the goals agreed upon with your client.”
Zadeh drew attention to the traditional barriers the industry has faced in making its way, with hotels accustomed to hiring a photographer to take pictures and present a complete product, costing thousands of dollars, with a talent they hope is unique.
She explained how brands can now allocate their entire production budget to working with multiple image and video content creators who can take the perfect underwater shot or highlight their location by taking a photo from a drone.
“This is a high-level production at a very competitive cost compared to what was previously paid,” Zadeh added, noting that “these influencers have an audience that travel brands want to attract.”
Judd Broadus, vice president of Travel Mindset, confirmed this, citing statistics.
She explained that, “Participation on the influencer’s blog lasts about 3 minutes, compared to less than 53 seconds on some travel sites, and we saw that the posts receive more interaction compared to the more expensive traditional platforms.”
Broadus pointed out that her company uses a special program to search for the right influencers for this task.