Social Media Strategy for Tour Operators and Adventure Travel Brands: What's Changed and What Still Works
How smart travel and tourism businesses are using social media to build audiences, earn trust, and ultimately drive bookings.
Within the last decade, social media has fundamentally changed the way we communicate, connect, and, yes, travel.
According to a 2025 Hotelagio report, 83% of all travellers now turn to social media for trip inspiration. Whether someone is actively planning a trip, currently on the road, or daydreaming at their desk on a Tuesday afternoon, travel and social media are now completely intertwined.
For tour operators, wilderness lodges, and adventure travel brands, that shift represents one of the biggest marketing opportunities in the industry's history. But only if you know how to use it.
Here are four ways social media has changed travel culture and what your tourism business should be doing about each one.
Social Media has become its own customer service channel.
"Social media is incredibly important as a customer service channel for us, as well as a customer engagement one that serves up education and inspiration for our community," says Amanda Cunningham, Intrepid Travel’s Global Social Media Specialist.
Today's travellers want a quick, natural way to communicate with businesses, but their first impulse is not to pick up the phone.. Over 90% of consumers say they prefer texts or messages over phone calls for business communication, and social media DMs sit squarely in that category. Someone considering a bear viewing trip to the Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge or a small-ship kayaking expedition along the BC coast is far more likely to send a quick Instagram message than fill out a contact form or dial a number as their first point of contact.
That's a warm lead sitting in your inbox. The question is whether you're responding to it fast enough to matter.