Last year, TTG partnered with social video sharing platform TikTok to bring the travel trade some key trending data points to help agents stay one step ahead of the game this winter by promoting destinations on the up.

TikTok’s latest search data, shared with TTG on Monday (3 April), reveals that while Brits still seem enamoured with the so-called City of Love, other European capitals aren’t faring so well, with Berlin, Rome and Dublin no longer making the top 10 searches.

According to figures, interest in Amsterdam and Venice has returned, now the second and third most-searched for destinations on the platform behidn Paris – both up significantly compared with late last year when Venice just scraped into the top 10 with Amsterdam not even making the list. 

Moreover, Dubai’s appeal seems to have ebbed slightly, while interest for south-east Asian destinations such as Thailand and Bali has boomed. Here is TikTok’s list of the top 10 destinations by UK searches:

1. Paris; 2. Amsterdam; 3. Venice; 4. Dubai; 5. Thailand; 6. Bali; 7. Tenerife; 8. Maldives; 9. Barcelona; and 10. New York.

The data also reveals how queries relating to travel inform nine of the top 10 keyword searches used on the platform during the early months of the year.

Searches for European destinations such as the Amalfi coast and Rhodes have got people’s attention, as well as further-flung places like Marrakesh and Zanzibar making the top 10 – as does the UK’s own Lake District.

Here are the top 10 keyword searches on TikTok in the UK:

1. Berghain inside footage; 2. Antalya Turkey; 3. Lake District UK; 4. Amalfi Coast Italy; 5. Rhodes Greece; 6. Marrakesh Morocco; 7. Visiting the Dead Sea; 8. Zanzibar; 9. Lanzarote; and 10. Lake Como Italy.

#Budgettravelhacks?

An in-depth analysis of TikTok’s travel hashtags, meanwhile, has revealed some of the platforms’ key travel trends driving destination and holiday inspiration.

Fast-growing hashtags include #Summerideas and #Budgettravelhacks, while brand-led trends and milestones also make the list like ##disney50thanniversary and #VisitSeoul.

These are TokTok’s fastest-growing travel hashtags in the UK (viewing figures global):

#vakkarumaldives (123.9 million views)

#Costarica (24.5 billion)

#Visitseoul (240.5 million)

#disney50thanniversary (110.1 million)

#Icehotel (38.7 million)

#Rvtravel (194.3 million)

#Caving (821.5 million)

#Spatime (141.7 million)

#Bicestervillage (88.6 million)

#Frankfurt (9.6 billion)

#Summerideas (513.3 million)

#Budgettravelhacks (6.2 million)

#Mountainview (255.8 million)

Meanwhile, with Easter and the May bank holidays just around the corner, many travel businesses will be stepping up their social media messaging and campaigns to get clients and customers excited.

Some of travel’s biggest brands have got in on the act too – so here are just a few of the campaigns making waves in the TikTok travel world this spring.

Hilton Hotels

Hilton has defied TikTok’s cardinal rule – brevity – and challenged users to watch its 10-minute ad for the chance to win 10 million Hilton Honors Points, as well as a new experiences.

Launched mid-February, the campaign features heiress Paris Hilton alongside several content creators, including Chris Olsen and Byron Ryan. Over the past six weeks, the ad has received over 35.7 million views, more than 519,000 likes and been shared almost 35,000 times.

British Airways

The UK’s flag-carrier joined the platform on 6 January, the same day it launched its new uniforms.

Over the past three months, BA has gathered 170,600 followers, jumping on viral trends such as everything can be an album – where users post pictures that could never be on the cover of an album – or #ChickenPermission.

Just last week, BA’s latest TikTok, which featured hit Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi performing for passengers on a flight to Los Angeles, received 1.8 million views.

Tui

To capitalise on people’s appetite for travel amid the cost of living squeeze with some #budgettravelhacks of their own, Tui has eschewed celebrity tie-ins and partnered instead with creators such as The Budgeting Mum and The Travel Bae to create and post several money-saving videos.