It took me a little while to come around to the idea of hashtags. You see them on Twitter. I think that was my first experience with them. Now you see them on many other social media sites including Google+, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Now when I share posts on social media, mostly on Twitter, I just about always use a hashtag. I started using hashtags I thought would be relevant to the content I was sharing. And the result was that people I had never seen before on social media started finding the content I was sharing.
After that I dug into hashtags in my industry a little more to discover the popular hashtags. It’s a balance of finding popular hashtags that are still relevant to your industry. You want the people following those hashtags to be your target customer.
I’ve gone through this exercise once again. This time it’s for you: the Travel Professional.
Here is a list of the top hashtags for you.
Note: I used hashtags.org and Twitter for research.
1. #Holiday
In the US we use the term #vacation more and that would be a good hashtag to use as well, but I looked into it and #holiday seems to have more potential. It’s popular without being too popular where your social updates will get drowned out. Obviously much of this comes in terms of “The Holidays”, but when people are traveling they’re usually on holiday and you can engage them with this hashtag even if they’re hoping to go on holiday soon.
2. #Best
It’s a general-sounding hashtag, but #best fits well in the travel and hospitality industry. You see all kinds of “Best of” lists in travel publications. You can create your own as well on a blog and on social media. Or you could share your #best #travel tips or simple use the tag when sharing an experience like when a customer tells you that you helped make their trip amazing and how that feeling is the #best for you as a travel professional.
3. #Food
What’s something people think about every day while traveling? #Food. That’s why this popular hashtag is high on this list. Showing photos of food can be good especially food that is unique to your travel business. Even if you’re showing food of a complementary business it can be a good thing.
4. #Photo
Social media can be a very visual place. And the travel and hospitality industry seems to have an even stronger tendency that other industries for visuals. That’s why this is one of the hashtags you’ll want to use. It’s a bit general, but you can bet that people following it will likely have an interest in travel.
5. #Travel
This one is obvious for the travel and hospitality industry. But I didn’t put it at the top of the list because it is very competitive. My recommendation for using this hashtag is to use visuals. If you can share photos do it with this hashtag on various social media. That should help your content stand out.
6. #Sunrise
It’s close, but it appears that #Sunrise edges out #Sunset for the most engagement. You could probably benefit from both if you choose. It seems for some reason people like looking at photos of the sun on the horizon and it goes along with travel. People are curious about sunsets from all over the world including your corner of the world.
7. #Beautiful
Who doesn’t want to see something #beautiful when they’re on vacation? Who doesn’t want to see something #beautiful all the time? Share photos and even share cool customer stories that are #beautiful in your eyes and in the eyes of potential customers.
8. #Bucketlist
I went back and forth on this one. It’s not hugely popular, but I like it. I think it is really relevant to the travel and hospitality industry. You can help people feel inspiration for their #bucketlist by adding photos, ideas and more.
9. #Tips
This hashtag can be used across many different industries, but it works well for travel too. When people are getting excited about travel they’re always looking for tips and #hacks (and offshoot hashtag for this section). Post your #tips and use this hashtag to broaden your audience.
10. #Love
This is one of the most popular hashtags across all social media. It’s general so that’s a downside, but chances are good that travelers use this all the time. You can engage with them by sharing things that you love about your neighborhood, city, state, etc. Photos are good, but even quick favorites can work well like, “Just had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle #Love”.
Honorable Mentions
- #Fun
- #Cool
- #Friends
- #WTF
- #BestDayEver
- #Happy
Final Thought
Here is a quick recap of all the hashtags once again:
- #Holiday
- #Best
- #Food
- #Photo
- #Travel
- #Sunrise
- #Beautiful
- #Bucketlist
- #Tips
- #Love
My suggestion is to use these just about every time you share your content on social media. You’ll expand the reach of your content bringing you new traffic, followers and re-shares.
Finally, use your city, state and other area-type hashtags to bring in the audience that is already thinking about visiting your area. Many travelers go in-state and in-city. Help them find something wonderful to do by getting their attention with hashtags.
Image: SAM Nasim
