Social Media Becomes the Main Reliance of the Community in Searching for Holiday References

JAKARTA - The trend of looking for holiday references is now shifting to the digital realm, especially social media. Many people use digital platforms as the main source to get inspiration for destinations, tourist activities, to accommodation recommendations before traveling.

This is reflected in the report "Tourism Trends 2025 & Outlook 2026: Redefining The New Shape of Travel" which shows the strong role of social media in the travel planning process.

"We can no longer deny that social media is very dominant. Now in 2025, we see that nine out of 10 tourists rely on social media as the starting point for planning a vacation," said tiket.com Chief Strategy Officer Tifanny Tjiptoning at a press conference in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Based on the report, as many as 57 percent of people search for holiday information through the TikTok platform, while Instagram is in second place with a figure of 34 percent.

Both platforms are popular because they present interesting, short, and easy-to-understand visual content. Video views are considered to be able to help prospective tourists imagine the atmosphere of the trip, destination, and experience to be obtained.

In practice, social media users generally use the search feature by entering certain keywords to find the desired information.

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"Social media is a driving force for the exploration of new destinations. So, maybe before we had many destinations or maybe tourist attractions that were not too popular, it turned out that after being shared on social media, people were interested in coming," said Tifanny.

This phenomenon shows that social media has a big influence on how tourists plan their trips, including choosing tourist destinations.

On the same occasion, Lokadata's Chief Data Officer Suwandi Ahmad said that social media also makes it easier for tourists to share experiences after visiting a destination or staying at a certain accommodation.

He gave an example of the increasing attention of tourists to the issue of sustainability, such as the use of bamboo-based tissue in hotels. Through social media, users can show the details of the product, including its texture, so that others can get a clearer picture.

"So his friends also want to go there. From these small things, but it has a big impact," said Suwandi.