TikTok Is The New Way To Plan Your Trip SimCorner® Australia

Hear us out - TikTok might just be your new favourite way to plan trips. Better known for its one-minute videos featuring trending dances, funny pet tricks and the meme-ification of daily life, the fast-growing social app boasts over a billion monthly users worldwide who spend an average of more than 850 minutes on the app every month! This growth was even more evident during lockdown, when travel influencers continued to play virtual tour guide in their hometowns as we watched enviously from our couches.

Booming interest in travel content has given way to TikTok influencers like American Kacie Rose - who didn’t actually set out to be a TikTok travel influencer. She started out by documenting her solo trips and big move to Italy. But soon, it was her quirky take on culture shocks, unique ‘hidden-in-plain-sight’ adventures and attempts to experience Italy like a local that quickly helped her amass over 800k TikTok followers. Now, she’s built her own business providing tours, tips and guidance to help plan your trip in Italy.

This year, it’s clear that some serious pent up traveller energy is set to be unleashed. Now that borders are slowly lifting, Forbes’ 2022 travel trends report predicts that many of us won’t be settling for just any travel experience - we are actively looking to plan bucket list trips of a lifetime. Despite these urges, it’s still very easy to be overwhelmed by the ever-changing travel regulations and concerns about being stranded. This is why TikTok’s bite-sized and entertaining visual summaries make it an excellent travel research tool. Some travel influencers even give insights about visas and other details that could easily be overlooked as you plan your trip.

TikTok's powerful algorithm curates and recommends similar content to include in your ‘For You’ page based on things like how you interact with each video, how relevant the content is to you (and more). Once it picks up on a user's niche interest, an endless scroll down your rabbit hole of choice unfolds. What sets TikTok apart, even more, is that most creators (not just superstar TikTokkers!) get at least some exposure time - as long as the content is relevant to the searched topic. So, you can expect more diverse and nuanced perspectives about the places you’re travelling to!

Simply typing ‘#travel’ into the app's search bar is enough to bring up a huge list of must-see destinations, top travel spots, tips, and even ‘fly-on-the-wall’ views of accommodation options. By being selective about your ‘For You’ page selections, you can quickly tell whether or not a place is worth your time based on its views and overall comments. At the end of the day, it’s important to stay true to yourself and plan a trip that authentically reflects your personal preferences and travel style…not just your ‘[For You Page’ recommendations!

How To Plan Your Trip the TikTok Way

Get the basics down! Narrow down your moodboard of dream destinations as much as you can and think about how long you’ll be there for.
Prioritise activities - Top restaurants? Nature hikes? More cultural tours? Maybe there’s a birthplace of a historical figure you’d be keen to check out! Picking just a few helps you get specific with your searches
Start following travel TikTokers who live in the area or ones who have just moved there (noting the comments and responses in their videos will give you a better idea of how active they are).
Base your searches on particular areas and activities of interest - be as precise as possible to get the most relevant results (and content!).
Cross-reference with government sites to ensure that all the info is correct and up to date (check out this IATA map with global travel regulations that update in real-time).