Travel season is upon us. Hotel prices hike, school times wind down, and everyone is looking for their favourite cities on hashtags on Instagram. This is a time for a travel creator to shine. You can really get some eyes on your travel blogging in the months over the summer and boost your personal brand. But you need to stand out, and to do that you can tap into the best travel trends in the industry right now. Even better, you can put your own spin on them. Take a look at our suggestions for the best travel trends of 2023.
The anti-hotel trends
Hotels are one of the three main options when it comes to booking your holiday. Those, hostels and perhaps villas are the typical go-to. But, with the rise of Airbnb (for better or worse), people are discovering all the different options they really have for accommodation. And, sure, some of them are Airbnb’s so don’t tend to come with the luxury of a hotel, but a lot are really just massive resorts with a gimmick. We’re talking igloos that let you watch the northern lights, treehouses with a treetop hot tub, rooms built under aquariums, and lots of other ideas.
If you’re looking for places to feature in your content that is bound to get eyes on you, try and look outside the box when it comes to accommodation.
Take inspiration from pop culture
Have you heard of the Wes Anderson travel trends? Of course, you have, because everyone, even places that have no business saying they look like a Wes Anderson film, like a dingy club or a back alley, are making themselves part of this trend. The videos featuring bright colours and symmetry is a real testament to the power of editing.
But it’s not just The Darjeeling Effect that’s going viral. The second season of The White Lotus made us all desperate to visit this make-believe hotel, and failing that, Italy would do. Videos living out a lifestyle only Jennifer Coolidge could portray effectively, complete with scooters and cocktails hit social media.
But that is a very distinct aesthetic, one that a lot of travel bloggers follow. There is a whole nerdom fanbase out there that want to see their favourite spots too? Remember the Joker steps that went viral? Go to Glasgow and see the Necropolis featured in 2022’s The Batman. Now that Game of Thrones is over, move on to the latest viral HBO release, Succession and see what it has to offer. These are nepo billionaires that take helicopters to work, so you’ve got plenty to choose from, from Matsson’s Swedish retreat (which is actually Norwegian) to Connor’s New Mexican ranch.
People are curious to see these places for themselves, so show them what they’ve seen before and how they can get the real experience in your content. Even better, this allows you to play around with your content editing. Travel blogging is typically very one note: sunny skies and clear beaches. But if you’re trying to sell a city as the next Gotham, that’s not going to fit.
“Places that…” trends
One trend that seems to have endless possibilities is the “Places that…” trend. For example, “Places that are affordable versions of…” “Places that look like…” “Places that accept LGBT people”, etc.
Travel blogging advice might tell you to find a niche and stick to it, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, put together content equivalents of listicles. Reels featuring snippets of places or series of photos of places that are linked and that way you will offer your audience a few ideas on where they can go rather than trying to sell one place. And the best part about this trend is that it can appeal to a lot of different demographics.
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