What holiday/travel content do you like to see?

[Dinoswearunderpants]

Hi all

I absolutely love watching videos and reading reviews before a trip, it really gets me excited for the trip and helps me plan so I also love sharing content whilst I'm away. I thought I'd ask the experts what they like to see when researching trips.

I have two different social media accounts (I won't share handles as I don't want to be accused of plugging my accounts) one is focused on family travels so I share tips on travelling with kids and family friendly places and the second is a faceless travel account so focussing on the locations and facilities of he places I visit.

What do people like seeing? Short travel tips, longer hotel reviews. Do you prefer breakdown of different areas of the hotels or a full walk though? What don't you like seeing?

Hope you don't mind me asking :-)

Thanks

I read a lot of travel content - both magazine articles, and SM influencer style stuff. I don’t tend to click Follow on someone, it just comes up often on my algorithm, though.

I really dislike reels, preferring a carousel of images and content. It’s easier to stay on a bit of info or go back/forth to certain highlights. Unfortunately IG leans towards reels nowadays, so I’m aware creators will focus on making these instead.

Content wise, I love: seeing someone recap their trip in terms of the budget/spends, post-travel ‘what I regret, what I’d do again because it was great’, and lists of personally-tried-and-tested resources (ie where I book my travel or hotels). And honesty! When someone actually points out they had a shit meal, paid too much for a hotel, or it was a nightmare getting to a place…

Thank you so much. I totally get what you say. I always do reels, as you're right the algorithm pushes these more but when it comes to reading information on screen, it is definitely easier to do this on photos.

I've sometimes shared how much we've spent on a trip to help people see they're achievable. For example, we visited Disneyland Paris for under £1k.

I am very honest! Always share the good and bad. This has been really helpful reading your thoughts, thank you.

I love seeing reviews of hotels I have booked to stay at but I'm not really interested in any personal content unless its to give tips for what worked or didn't work.

E.g I have no interest in seeing what someone wore that day / what type of handbag they have unless its to reference the kind of dress code you would expect or to give practical advice such as what to wear for comfort at Disneyland Paris.

That's great to here. So outfit of the day wouldn't be interesting but if it was shared as 'Outfits I wore to comply with smart casual dress code' might work?

Yes, exactly that

The "influencer" type blogs drive me mad - and there are so many of them. I want to read about the places and see pics of the sights, recommendations for restaurants and places to stay. I do not want to see photos of someone in a floaty frock and a straw hat posing in front of things. And I keep seeing these bloody people everywhere now too.

I enjoy the family posts with real accounts of the trip eg. the kids were so cranky as we had rubbish flight times but managed to get a great deal type of thing.
Clothes wise things like these shorts were fab, I wore them every evening with a different top. I guess I like the posts to be relatable and not smug.
I absolutely love it where people go somewhere a bit different.

Do you read blog posts or do you mean on social media?

No interest in hotels unless it’s somewhere with a really fab view in UK or a city break destination. Definitely no interest in what anyone else is wearing. I like to see walk arounds of destinations including tourist attractions and excursions. Travel tips including budget are good, plus restaurant recommendations and ‘best time to visit’ recommendations. I’m not travelling with children.

I hate anything influencer like. Ugh the tan and teeth, straw hat & clothes covering the things you actually want to see. It’s the places not the person - there are just way too many. Do a ditsy little dance by a pool, jiggle your boobs into a bikini. So so so boring now.

I like people who focus on the practicalities of where you’re going. But even then I wouldn’t watch too many as otherwise what’s the point of going.

I’ve found I really miss the surprise elements of travel so for this summers big trip I’ve used an old fashioned guidebook to plan and stayed away from YouTube and IG. Last year we had a big adventurous holiday but I found myself chasing views I’d seen on line multiple times, along with the crowds.

Pinterest mainly. Or Google. I certainly wouldn't follow these people on e.g. Instagram as they get on my nerves. The blinking Daily Express of all things has more informative travel articles I swear. I much prefer magazine articles or local travel groups on e.g FB. Influencers swanning around who mostly know nothing are a complete pain - and yet come to the top of the pile when you google anywhere.

I prefer a travel guide as if you google "What to do in XXX" you get Get your Guide, Viator, then a whole host of bloggers who say exactly the same thing without giving any decent details apart from places they get clicky links for. Even Tripadvisor is fully monetised these days - I don't trust information from people who are making money from their recommendations and clicks. I seek out local tourist information where possible and even Chat GPT can be useful. Travel bloggers are generally up there on my hate list with cruises.

I like 'mallorca under the sun' and road trip Spain and portugal on youtube. Practical stuff like what's border control like but also seeing the resorts and areas I plan to visit.

I like finding out about hidden gems in places I'm going to. I've just booked a restaurant in Greece that kept coming up on Facebook through my searches and interactions with groups. It's a farm where everything in the restaurant is home grown, it looks fab yet all the influencer type stuff is sunsets and cocktails.

Thanks again for the replies.