Skift Take

TikTok has become an influential force in travel discovery. Selling travel more directly would make it formidable.

Dawit Habtemariam

Millions of people look to TikTok every day to plan their next vacation. So airlines, destination marketers, and hotels create short videos on the platform to influence final booking decisions.

Over 60% of users in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland say they’re likely to book a holiday based on recommendations they’ve seen on TikTok, according to Stuart Flint, who heads TikTok’s global business solutions for Europe and Israel.

Flint spoke with Skift Wednesday after his on-stage presentation at ITB Berlin, the travel trade show.

Flint discussed the platform's niche communities, TikTok's tests of long-form videos, why some celebs struggle on the platform, tips for appealing to users, and other issues.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

How Travel Brands Work With TikTok

Skift: 2022 seemed like the year when travel brands really started using TikTok. How much has your travel advertising revenue grown since?

Flint: As they came out of Covid, people started to think about travel. They wanted to explore the world. People wanted just to get away. And then because TikTok was more front and center than previously, that's why brands started to use it.  

Inspiration is a big part of that. Certainly, using the search and the discovery bar has been a significant shift in the way people behave on the platform. So that inspiration piece is great.

Then there's the education piece. The idea of airlines like EasyJet or Ryanair, for example, is to really have fun with the platform. They're quite humorous but stay true to their brands. This also allows them to educate, whether it's a pilot telling you about turbulence or something else, or sharing a little hack about how to use the sick bag on the back of your seat.

We don't share any information about revenues. But I can tell you that there's been some really interesting travel brands working with us.

Booking.com is a very key customer for us. Travel booking, destinations, and airlines have become really, really big for us. So we've seen a lot of growth.