Once you’ve gotten a handle on what’s an influencer, it’s time to think about how best to leverage their talent for business. If you’re looking to create dynamic marketing campaigns, having an amazing influencer as part of your efforts can help. There are lots of great platforms where you can use influencer talent for your marketing efforts, and we’ll go through some of the top travel influencers you can work with for this article.
What is a Travel Influencer?
A travel influencer is someone who travels to destinations extensively and documents their adventures. Some choose to write blogs about their experiences or post photos and videos on platforms like Instagram and YouTube (or a combination thereof). They may also choose to document a niche category, such as luxury travel, or focus on a specific region. They may also work on other platforms such as Cameo (more on what is Cameo) to connect with followers.
The Travel Influencer Industry in 2022
Travel influencers have become a mainstay in the world of social media and a preferred marketing partner within the travel industry. Depending on the travel destinations, the hospitality, tourism boards, and tourism brands have increased working with travel influencers to gain an organic following and create awareness for travel destinations.
Why You Should Consider Partnering with a Travel Influencer
Working with top travel influencers can benefit your marketing campaign for the following reasons:
- New audiences: Working with travel Instagram influencers and other platforms help you connect to new audiences.
- Awareness: Influencer marketing has steadily become one of the top ways to build awareness for businesses
- Organic reach: By partnering with a travel influencer, you have organic reach to new networks rather than using paid advertising
- Increase sales: You can gain new leads and close sales by partnering with travel influencers to offer exclusive deals for trip promotions.
- Trust: Audiences are more likely to trust the content that comes from their favorite influencer as opposed to advertisements.
Top Travel Influencers to Work Within 2022
If you are not sure which travel influencers to work with, we’ve put together a list of some of the top influencers in the space and the social media channels they are popular on to help make the selection process easier.
1. Bucket List Family
The Bucket List Family is known for their successful Youtube channel focusing on family travel vlogs, such as their experiences with forever wandering as a family.
Niche: Family traveler content
Main Social Media Channel: YouTube, @thebucketlistfamily
Followers: 1.39 million followers
2. Lauren Bullen
Lauren Bullen runs a travel Instagram account with an emphasis on wellness, and Elsa, her twin sister’s Instagram account, focuses on leading a healthy lifestyle.
Niche: Wellness travel adventures
Main Social Media Channel: Instagram, @gypsea_lust
Followers: 2m
3. Brian Skerry
Brian Skerry is an amazing, world-renowned photographer for National Geographic that documents his tropical and ocean adventures on his Instagram feed for others to enjoy, including destinations around the world.
Niche: Marine photography
Main Social Media Channel: Instagram, @brianskerry
Followers: 942k
4. Expert Vagabond Travel Blogger
Run by Matthew Karsten, his blog features adventure travel and photography since he loves visiting crazy places. It documents his experiences, travel tips, as well as scenic photographs from his many trips.
Niche: Adventure travel and digital nomad lifestyle
Main Social Media Channel: Instagram and YouTube, @expertvagabond
Followers: 140k followers on Instagram, 60k followers on YouTube
5. Fearless and Far
Fearless and Far is a top travel YouTube influencer. His YouTube channel is focused on adventure, food, and experiencing new cultures.
Niche: Epic adventure travel
Main Social Media Channel: YouTube, @MikeCorey
Followers: 1.05 million
6. Atlas and Boots
Atlas and Boots was named a top best travel blogger and travel writer. They extensively document their trips to exotic destinations, including research and background on the destinations coupled with landscape photography.
Niche: Outdoor travel
Main Social Media Channel: Blog on website
Followers: 250k
7. The Poor Traveler Travel Blog
If you’re looking for an influential traveler in the budget travel niche, The Poor Traveler would be a great place to start. They’ve been featured in numerous famous publications for their budget-conscious approach and free travel guides.
Niche: Budget travel
Main Social Media Channel: Facebook, The Poor Traveler
Followers: 800k
8. Chris Burkard
Chris Burkard is a successful travel influencer who is also a professional photographer. Chris Burkard on showcasing breathtaking natural shots from all over the world, such as a beautiful landscape, an amazing beach, and other gorgeous locations. His social media feed also includes lifestyle, surf, outdoor and more for the places he’s been to, such as Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, and many others.
Niche: Lifestyle and nature photography
Main Social Media Channel: Instagram, @chrisburkard
Followers: 3.8 million
9. Breathe Dream Go
Slow travel is another growing niche, and Breathe Dream Go. Their travel blog is geared towards creating mindful travel guides for the travel enthusiast. Breathedreamgo has worked with major travel brands around her unique travel experiences around India as well as other parts of the world, such as Canada and Asia, on social media platforms.
Niche: Slow travel
Main Social Media Channel: Facebook, breathedreamgo
Followers: 14k followers
10. Murad Osmann
Murad Osmann is arguably one of the most prominent Instagram travel influencers out there and commands a large audience. He started the famous trend of the ‘follow me’ travel shot that went viral. His followers on Instagram range in the millions, and he’s known for his amazing locations and aesthetic sense. His content took off as local brands started approaching, and his feed now features some of the most coveted hotels.
Niche: Exotic locations coupled with a unique sense of photography
Main Social Media Channel: Instagram @muradosmann
Followers: 3.5 million
11. Curb Free with Cory Lee
Curb Free with Cory Lee takes a different approach to travel blogging compared to others on the list. Cory’s travels feature his experiences of traveling in a wheelchair and shining a light on wheelchair-accessible travel for others. He has been featured on numerous TV shows and publications for his approach to travel.
Niche: Traveling in a wheelchair
Main Social Media Channel: Facebook, curbfreewithcorylee
Followers: 28k
12. Angelica Blick
Angelica Blick is a travel blogger and successful fashion icon. As an Instagram travel influencer, she’s created a brand around travel and breathtaking fashion designs. Her feed features fantastic shots of the tropical world, fashion shoots, brand deals, and more. She’s also the recipient of Veckorevyn blog awards for her travel content.
Niche: Fashionable travel
Main Social Media Channel: Instagram, @angelicablick
Followers: 1.1. m
13. Jack Morris
Jack Morris is another major travel blogger who has created a massive following. His photos are all about dreamy escapes to far-flung locations and showing the warm culture of the destinations he visits. He’s one of the biggest travel bloggers and consistently growing his following.
Niche: Travel
Main Social Media Channel: Instagram, @jackmorris
Followers: 2.5 million
What Makes a Good Travel Influencer
If you’re not sure how to identify the right travel influencers for your brand, here are some considerations to keep in mind during the selection process:
- Number of followers: Look at the number of followers they have and whether there is consistent growth
- Engagement: They might have large followings, but how engaged are they? Look at the number of views for videos, likes on Instagram, and comments to get a sense of engagement.
- Brand ambassador and partnership: What kind of content do they post, and what brands do they usually work with? That will give you a sense of whether they can help your marketing campaign and their experience.
- Content: What type of content do you want to put forward (e.g., travel posts on Instagram or experience-driven long-form content), and is that compatible with the travel influencers’ offer?
- Feedback: You should ask travel influencers you’re considering what kind of feedback and metrics they have gotten with past marketing campaigns and how a partnership could benefit both of your brands.
How to Work with a Travel Influencer
There are many ways that you can get started and work with a travel influencer depending on your needs and budget:
- Contact the influencer directly through their Instagram page using the direct message feature or contact information mentioned in their bio
- You can leave a comment on their Instagram posts asking them to check their messages to ensure they see it
- Based on the initial outreach response, you can ask them about different packages or deals they offer and provide more information on what you’re looking for and your timeline.
- Once the content, deliverables, and timeline are approved on both sides, you can draw up a contract outlining the discussion and deliverables.
- You can choose to do check-ins at different time points during the campaign to ensure that things are running smoothly and have a debrief at the end to understand metrics and deliverables.
Who is the best travel influencer in 2022?
The best travel influencer is Jack Morris @jackmorris. He currently has a large following on Instagram of 2.5 million users through an incredibly successful Instagram account that showcases his adventures around the globe.
Which travel influencer has the most followers on Instagram?
The best Instagram travel influencers include content creators such as Murad Osmann @muradosmann, who has one of the largest followings on Instagram at 3.5 million users and was named one of the top travel influencers by publications such as Forbes.
Image: Depositphotos