![]() They predict the industry is on course to grow to approximately $16.4 billion just this year alone, with more than 75 per cent of brand marketers dedicating a specific budget towards influencer-related services. A growing industryīut as travel opens up again post-pandemic, research from the influencer marketing hub shows these types of partnerships represent a big business that’s about to get even bigger. Other hotel chains, such as the Ace hotel, get so many requests from influencers that they’ve streamlined the process with specific online “influencer media stay request” forms. ![]() The brand built on that success in subsequent years with other influencers on their Snapchat platform and even launched a TikTok contest earlier this year to find three people to complete a “30 Stays, 300 Days” tour of their international properties. The Marriott group was one of the first to embrace the idea back in 2015 when they signed an exclusive deal with Jackson Harries from JacksGap, a YouTube channel with over four million subscribers, that saw Jack create short videos focusing on Marriott destinations. Partnering with social media influencers is nothing new for brands. “When you look them up on Instagram, it’s clear they’ve bought their followers and their advertising is paid for.” ‘Don’t be in it for the free stays’ “Most people who contact us are 18-year-old girls clearly on their gap years trying to score a freebie,” he says. He describes how he regularly receives outlandish requests - demanding five rooms for three nights with free airport transfers and free alcohol - and says the people aren’t even the kind of clientele the hotel caters for. “The problem with influencers is there is no quality control,” he says, suggesting, “someone needs to set up a TripAdvisor that rates them.” Richard Hanlon, owner of the majestic Bujera Fort in Udaipur, India, shares a similar view. “If someone wrote to me and said, ‘look ‘I’m overweight, I can’t look glamorous in your hotel, I wear black because I feel more comfortable in it, I’ve got a few missing chunks of hair but I’m bloody funny and am just obsessed with Dorp and would love to come’, I’d say yes come - someone with a sense of humour who was real and genuine,” she adds, bemoaning the fact that even the word “authenticity” has become a fake buzzword. “Everything online is over-promised, presented as being glamorous or wonderful,” Behr says, contrasting that with how she spends her days looking to capture some of the real magic taking place in her hotel, like the staff spontaneously singing happy birthday or discovering chameleons playing in the garden. Showcasing carefully curated interiors, with warm and inviting spaces, it even describes itself as a bit quirky and old-fashioned. Credit: Sven Hansche / EyeEm /Getty Images/EyeEmĪ quick glance at the hotel’s website is enough to see why. Love them or loathe them, as the travel world reopens, influencers are back on the move. “Posing, wearing hardly anything in a hotel room does nothing for us - it’s not the clientele we’re after,” she explains.
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