Six Influencer Trends for Destination Marketing in 2027

Influencers and content creators continue to be top resources for people planning travel. A 2025 study by Expedia Group reports that 73% of travelers make decisions based on influencer recommendations.

But today’s influencers aren’t creating the same content they were ten years ago. Understanding the trends shaping their work is vital for destinations to build better partnerships that drive brand awareness and—of course—bookings.

1. Return of Long-Form Storytelling

Increasingly, influencers are turning to longer storytelling moments. Short videos are giving way to longer clips with more developed throughlines. Though not pervasive yet, applications like Instagram TV are showing how social media is facilitating this shift.  

Longer stories provide deeper connection to a destination and engage potential travelers with more robust messaging. It’s more than a pretty picture that they seek: it’s a narrative. 

For destinations, this means developing influencer itineraries and experiences that foster long-form storytelling opportunities. Embrace longer, more relaxed experiences with a variety of visuals and people to fold into the storytelling. Pack less into the trip and give the influencers time to capture the content they need to produce impactful long-form videos.

2. Budgets Reflect Professionalism

It’s not so much a trend as a reality that DMOs need to face. Influencers are professional entities, and as such, require compensation. We all need to move away from the notion that influencers are a low-budget option providing “nice to have” assets. They are a major driving force for travel experiences around the world, and that sort of work requires payment.

Destinations need to evaluate their influencer budget and be realistic. There’s always someone who will bite for a low budget, but will it necessarily be the right person to yield results? Allocating more will open up the possibilities to more strategic partnerships and better brand awareness among target audiences. Creating a reporting structure to assess success will allow you to understand this ROI more effectively.

3. Seeking Long-term Relationships

Influencers are seeking more consistent opportunities to work with destinations to create content beyond the initial trip. Rather than just pop in and share some content, they want to become spokespeople, generating sustainable work opportunities for themselves and multiple messaging opportunities for destinations.

Destinations need to develop working contracts that look beyond short-term results, stacking a bench of influencers who are willing to share updates and news items with their audiences long after they return home. When audiences see one post from their favorite influencer, that’s good. But seeing that influencer post consistently throughout the year about your destination will pay dividends.

4. Uniqueness Is Non-Negotiable

Sure, some influencers will be happy hitting the major sites in your destination. But they probably aren’t attracting the audiences who are actively booking travel. The influencers who drive bookings highlight experiences that audiences don’t see anywhere else but on their feeds. Whether it’s VIP, or behind-the-scenes, or quietly luxurious, experiences need to be truly exclusive.

Destinations need to build exclusivity into their influencer trips to give them something no one else will be covering. A fancy dinner is nice, but a demonstration or workshop with a local Michelin-starred chef is excellent. A shopping trip is fun, but a chance to design their own locally-produced accessory is stellar. 

Exclusive experiences are what audiences are seeking, and what drives them to say, “I want to do that.”

5. Think Like a Brand Collab

All of this leads to thinking of travel influencers less like traditional members of the press who will come in and cover something and more like brand collaborations. Instead of a one-off trip and set of deliverables, influencers need to be thought of as a resource for destinations.

Part of this means looking beyond traditional “travel” labels and connecting with influencers who speak directly to fresh audiences your destination hasn’t connected to yet. Think of influencers as lifestyle brands who connect you to interests or profiles who will be interested in your DMOs message. Influencers who focus on niches like food or accessibility issues can provide strategic crossover, bringing your travel messaging to their audiences. 

Break free from the generic travel influencer mindset and consider tailored itineraries to welcome niche lifestyle influencers to your destination.

6. AI Drives Desire for Human Voices

Regardless of your thoughts on AI, it is giving influencers a moment to shine. As AI-generated itineraries and travel content flows from largely unrestricted sources, travelers are at an impasse. They want clear, easy information, but they want it vetted by trusted humans who have actually taken the trips they are researching.

AI can’t give an honest review about an experience, and the more it churns out travel information (even good, useful information), it will never be able to offer an authentic, emotional recommendation the way another human can.

Destinations need to remember how important human voices continue to be for travel recommendations and safeguard their brands with influencers who can provide the one thing AI can’t: a personality that continually captivates audiences.

Ready to enter 2027 with a fresh, strategic influencer approach? Get in touch with Ashley Kotar at Ashley.Kotar@aboutdci.com to tap into DCI’s extensive influencer relations knowledge set.