Where do you find inspiration for your next trip or holiday? What are the most popular sources for travel inspiration in 2024? In recent years, there seems to be a shift from paper and Google to social media, but what do the figures say? Wereldreizigers.nl decided to investigate where Dutch people get their travel inspiration in 2024. In this article, we share the results of this research.
Important results from the research
Approximately half (51%) of the Dutch people surveyed in 2024 still primarily use travel blogs as a source of travel inspiration or when searching for holidays and trips. Facebook travel groups remain extremely popular. TikTok and Instagram are slowly gaining ground, but for how long?
Travel blogs as the most inspiring source
In 2024, travel blogs are still by far the most important medium for inspiring, searching, and booking trips and holidays. However, a large part of this is done via Google’s search engine. Of a total of 1,507 votes, 51% voted for travel blogs as the most inspiring source. The total 51% is divided into two separate categories. 21% of respondents indicate that they go directly to travel blogs, and 30% mainly search for travel blogs via Google.
Facebook follows
Facebook, especially the many specific travel groups, still holds strong with 21%. This is followed by 11% for travel organizations. Travel organizations also have a combination of direct navigation (5%) and Google searches (6%).
Other media
The remaining portion consists of media such as Instagram (6%), travel guides (4%), TikTok (2%), YouTube (2%), and others (3%).
Simplified result
The purpose of the research is to see which sources of travel inspiration will be popular in 2024. Due to the different social media channels, there is some overlap in the various choices of respondents. That’s why we finally have a simplified representation of the results below. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube have been combined into one category, namely Social Media. Together, Social Media accounts for 31%, which is a considerable share.
How was the research conducted?
This was done via the newsletter and social media channels. Wereldreizigers.nl sent out a statement to which people could respond in an accessible way. Voting took place via a poll with pre-selected choices where respondents could indicate what they primarily use as a source of travel inspiration. Of the 32,000 people who saw the message in their mailbox or on social media, a total of 1,507 (4.7%) responded by voting.
The statement was:
When I’m looking for information or want to get inspired for a trip or holiday, I mainly search…
Options to choose from:
- Travel organizations (directly or via Google)
- Instagram (general, reels, and stories)
- Facebook (general, stories, and travel groups)
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Travel blogs (directly or via Google)
- Travel guides
- Otherwise, namely…
Who voted?
Young people may be more focused on social media, while older individuals might prefer consulting a physical magazine or book. To get a better insight into the actual target group of this research, besides media preferences, the ratio of men to women and different ages was also examined.
Male or female
Below you’ll see an overview of the ratio of male to female votes. Of the 1,507 respondents, 59% were women and 41% men.
Age
Below you’ll see an overview of the ratio between different age groups. Of the total 1,507 respondents, 33% are aged 25 to 34 years. 24% are represented in the age group of 35 to 44 years, followed by 12% in the age group of 55 to 64 years. The smallest groups are 18-24 years with 6% and 65+ with 4%.
Conclusion and expectation for 2025
Although we expected that social media, especially TikTok and Instagram, would be very important sources for travel inspiration in 2024, the figures paint a different picture. However, we must comment on this. Among the respondents in our research, it’s clear that millennials (aged 18 to 24) are significantly underrepresented. For example, a study by Booking.com already showed in 2019 that 37% of millennials actively use social media to get inspiration for their next trip or holiday. Our own research indicates that this will be ‘only’ 31% in 2024, while you would expect this to have grown in recent years.
This decline may have something to do with the growing group of young people who are increasingly seeking ‘offline travel’ in nature. Is the end of the social media hype among young people already in sight? It’s difficult to draw conclusions from this. What is clear is that the largest group (24 to 64 years old) in 2024 will mainly use travel blogs and Google as sources for inspiration, holidays, and travel. Therefore, it’s extremely interesting to repeat this research in the coming years to see how trends shift. Will we see a major shift to social media channels TikTok and Instagram in 2025? Will we start seeking more offline travel inspiration, or will AI perhaps play a role? Time will tell…
Source: Wereldreizigers.nl
