Done of them is posting snow-covered winter landscapes from Finland, another is traveling through Portugal and uploading surfing videos from there. And a couple makes envious with travel posts from southern Italy. We are talking about travel influencers who, around two years after the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Germany, have an audience in the millions.
Day after day they are on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook & Co., their ideal world videos and posts are among the fastest growing genres in social networks – after music, humor, film and journalism. The number of German-speaking travel influencers with a really large number of followers is limited. That’s how it is Portal Hype Auditor 2020 analyzed the German influencer market on Instagram and examined a total of 101,569 accounts from all subject areas. Result: Around 95 percent of them have 1,000 to 100,000 followers. There are just around 220 influencers for more than a million followers.
The figures do not show how many of them are travel influencers, but by far the most publications are on the topics of lifestyle, beauty and fashion. Traveling is often an integral part of these main points. The few travel influencers with a large number of followers have a correspondingly large influence on the tourism industry, because a not inconsiderable number of followers book trips or travel destinations that are advertised by the popular influencers.
We asked five extremely successful German-speaking travel influencers by email how they explain their success and how much work goes into their digital presence. We also wanted to know what you would like to convey to your followers about travel and how you see the future of the industry, for example in terms of sustainability or Corona. Here are the answers.
@sebastian_schieren (around 3.1 million followers)
Sebastian Schieren travels the coasts of Europe in his converted campervan. “I’ve never traveled anywhere in recent years that you can’t surf,” he writes. Although he’s not even a good surfer, it’s always fun.
On his travels, he films short videos, also with drones, which he then uploads online. On Tiktok he has developed a following of 2.8 million users, on Instagram almost 300,000 follow him. The Innsbruck native works full-time as a freelance filmmaker; he has already implemented projects for Jochen Schweizer and Red Bull, among others.
“I try not to commit myself to a niche, but always do exactly what I enjoy the most at the moment,” says Schieren, explaining his success. The concept: try lots of new things – and what works stays in the repertoire. “A TikTok video is recorded in a few minutes. But it can take a few hours before you have finished editing the whole thing and found the right music.”
in one Interview Schieren once called traveling for the sake of traveling a “waste of time”. He travels frequently as part of a larger project, such as filming or surfing — unlike most people, who only go on vacation once or twice a year and work from home, Schieren writes. He prefers to have his office with him in the van. A life as a digital nomad.
But one should have no illusions: “Everything is much more strenuous on the road. From shopping to finding parking spaces to washing the dishes.” Every follower should be aware of this: everything always looks nicer in videos on social media than it really is.
@terplanet (about 2.5 million followers)
The most luxurious hotels in the most beautiful locations: This is “the workplace” by Terence Licitra and Karen Genchi. “We discovered the luxury travel niche five years ago out of a passion for travel and photography. We started slowly and since then have strategically built our platforms over the years,” say the two mid-thirties. “When we started, there were only two other luxury travel influencers who had a very small following at the time.”
They have successfully worked this niche. This is confirmed by 1.6 million followers on tik tok and more than 800,000 on Instagram. Your videos consistently show the beautiful and expensive sides of travel, they are characterized by fast camera work and sometimes accompanied by kitschy music.
“Through our posts, our followers fall in love with a destination or a hotel, many put it on their personal bucket list,” and any fear of the unknown disappears – this is how the two influencers outline their basic idea.
However, true luxury when traveling is more than champagne and gold furniture. What counts above all is the special experience that each trip offers. The luxury also lies in the possibility of being carefree on the go. That’s why perfect organization is important, especially in Corona times, and this is particularly the case in the luxury travel segment – from the 24-hour concierge service to the PCR tests that are available in the resort.
Fully Sponsored Luxury Travel: How Do Influencers Take Envy? Licitra and Genchi point out that traveling is a full-time job. They hardly have time to hang around at pools or beaches. “Depending on the complexity of the posts, we spend an average of three to five hours planning and producing the content and another two to six hours for post-production before we can publish the material.” The couple posts pictures or videos on their channels almost every day .
Licitra and Genchi believe that the corona virus has not only changed the tourism industry in terms of customer service. Both are certain: “Travelling will no longer be the same as it was before Corona.” For example, long-term travel planning is currently hardly possible. Flexibility is more important than ever, as is maximum protection. Which is why both are double vaccinated against Corona.
@hannes_becker (around 1.6 million followers)
Hannes Becker does not see himself as a classic travel influencer. The 28-year-old takes photographs – mainly nature and landscapes. This self-image was different. “A few years ago I was still traveling a lot, on all seven continents, in over 50 countries and always to the latest spots, often just for likes.” Today his attitude has changed. He wants to document, not present.
follow Becker on Instagram 1.6 million followers. The photographer collective @germanroamers, of which he is a part, is followed by 436,000 users.
Sustainable travel is important to Becker. “Long before the pandemic, I was very conscious about my trips and avoided unnecessarily long and short flights.” Thanks to Corona, he is now hoping for a more conscious way of traveling, for mindfulness in tourism as well. “And if not for ourselves, then at least for the sake of the environment.”
@voyagefox_ (nearly 1.1 million followers)
Together with her husband takes Nathalie Aron their nearly 680,000 TikTok and around 390,000 Instagram-Follow the most photogenic, luxurious hotels, beaches and landscapes. “I’m very fortunate that my husband has been taking care of all the planning since we started traveling,” writes Aron. The focus is on an interplay of sustainability and luxury, especially with cooperation partners and hotels.
In other words, her husband organizes the stays in consistently expensive, luxurious accommodation, and the reviews then read, for example: “The resort is the ideal combination of beautiful beaches, delicious culinary options, numerous activities and inviting villas!” (about the ” Lux South Ari Atoll” in the Maldives).
However, Aron is not uncritical. She writes about the “Azulik Tulum” in Mexico: “The majority of the employees behave towards the guests in an arrogant and unfriendly manner. It’s as if the word ‘customer service’ doesn’t exist in this hotel.” On balance, she would “never book the hotel again”.
As far as the impact of the corona pandemic on travel is concerned, Aron is optimistic: “We are already noticing that a new ‘normality’ has set in with travel”. Be it masks on the plane or regular tests and vaccinations. In the coming months and years you will learn to live with the virus – and of course to travel.
@_marcelsiebert (about 940,000 Followers)
Like Hannes Becker, Marcel Siebert has specialized in photography. 940,000 users follow his work on Instagram. He also disagrees with the image of the lazy influencer.
“Usually it’s a long drive, a flight to another country, then a rental car and the alarm going off long before sunrise. This is usually followed by a longer hike until sunrise at the spot with hopefully the best conditions. The rest is then the image processing on the PC.” The time investment is enormous.
Siebert seems aware that, like most travel influencers, his posts can have a powerful impact on tourism in certain locations. “Many of my followers follow in my footsteps themselves and travel to the countries or landscapes that I previously projected via Instagram.”
In addition to positive consequences (such as the creation of tourism jobs), this can also have negative consequences (such as environmental destruction and mass tourism) for the individual destinations.
Siebert writes that he has only really taken a two-week vacation in the last four years. “I drove or ran from spot to spot every weekend and every free minute to get the perfect pictures for Instagram.” Almost a million users like it.
“Neurologists say Instagram acts like a drug”
Anette Dowideit, head of the World Investigative department, talks about the research results of her team on the dark side of the internet. She describes how dangerous Instagram in particular can be, especially for young and vulnerable people.
.