On the ultimate day of the 2025 Journey Journey World Summit in Puerto Natales, Chile, delegates had been invited to cease eager about “sometime” and begin sharpening the way in which they attain vacationers now.
In a high-energy keynote titled “Advertising and marketing, Storytelling, AI and Worth Creation,” advertising strategist and Tourism Cares board member Aizaz Sheikh made a compelling case: if journey manufacturers wish to win the following wave of demand in 2025 and 2026, they should perceive that social media has quietly develop into one thing else totally.
“We’re not asking clients to do one thing anymore,” he stated. “We’re asking them to cease—to pause mid-scroll lengthy sufficient to fall in love with our model, our story, our journeys.”
From Social Media to “Curiosity Media”
Aizaz, a senior advertising chief with expertise at G Adventures, Travelzoo and TourRadar, framed his speak round a significant shift he believes the business is underestimating: platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Fb now not revolve round who you comply with. They revolve round what you’re fascinated about, second by second.
“Followers and communities nonetheless matter,” he famous, “however the algorithms don’t serve content material based mostly on loyalty alone. They serve it based mostly on pursuits. That’s why social media has actually develop into curiosity media.”
For journey journey corporations that spent years increase fastidiously nurtured on-line communities, that may sound unsettling. However Aizaz argued it’s truly liberating, particularly for smaller operators and locations that don’t have deep pockets.
In a world the place algorithms resolve attain, a tiny model with a pointy sense of its viewers can outperform a a lot bigger competitor, if it constantly creates content material that aligns with particular traveler pursuits.
Storytelling within the Algorithm Age
Regardless of his deal with algorithms and AI, Aizaz insisted that storytelling stays the timeless engine of efficient advertising.
“Lengthy earlier than there have been advertisements, there have been tales,” he reminded the viewers. “We’re in the very best business on the planet for tales—and but, with regards to advertising, we frequently skip straight to the arduous promote.”
The problem at this time is just not whether or not tales matter, however how they’re advised:
- You might have two to 3 seconds to hook somebody earlier than they scroll on.
- The strongest content material front-loads its greatest second, perception, or curiosity hook as an alternative of saving it for the top.
- Audiences more and more favor genuine, human content material over ultra-polished, “brochure-style” movies.
Excuses about lacking drones and high-end cameras, he advised, are outdated. The machine in each marketer’s pocket is now highly effective sufficient, and infrequently extra aligned with what audiences truly wish to see.
5 Takeaways to Form 2026 Journey Advertising and marketing
Aizaz organized his speak round two strategic shifts and three tactical strikes that journey manufacturers can begin appearing on instantly.
1. Embrace Curiosity Media
The primary strategic shift is to cease advertising to everybody.
“Generic content material is vanilla,” he stated. “And the algorithms know no person desires vanilla on a regular basis.”
Even when an organization provides mountaineering, biking, cultural immersion, and food-focused journeys, each bit of content material ought to be crafted for a selected micro-interest or traveler phase. The extra particular the content material, the extra doubtless algorithms are to serve it to the individuals who care.
Knowledge, he emphasised, is crucial right here: entrepreneurs must get comfy contained in the platforms, finding out efficiency, viewers conduct, and traits themselves—not outsourcing that understanding to “the youngsters” or a distant social media coordinator.
2. Deal with Story as a Strategic Asset
The second strategic shift is to deal with storytelling as a core enterprise functionality, not one thing that solely occurs on the path or across the campfire.
Aizaz urged corporations to take a seat down with their groups and determine the tales they wish to inform:
- Tales about guides and native companions
- Tales about particular locations, conservation efforts, or cultural experiences
- Tales in regards to the transformation vacationers expertise on journey
These narratives then have to be tailored into short-form content material that respects platform norms whereas staying true to the model.
Three Techniques You Can Use Proper Away
Transferring from technique to execution, Aizaz provided three sensible techniques that groups can begin testing “as early as Monday.”
3. Collaborate Well with Creators
Creators and influencers, he argued, ought to be seen as an prolonged media crew—not as a obligatory evil or a conceit play. They:
- Are already consultants at creating content material that stops the scroll
- Know their area of interest audiences intimately
- Can usually clarify what’s working—and why—in ways in which assist manufacturers upskill internally
Aizaz beneficial beginning small: as an alternative of instantly flying creators the world over, have them check ideas from dwelling utilizing easy codecs equivalent to green-screen commentary. Measure not simply likes and follows, however clicks, leads, and bookings, and construct long-term relationships with those that show they will transfer the needle.
4. Flip Natural Wins into Paid Winners
Aizaz sees a persistent hole between model advertising and efficiency advertising.
Too usually, efficiency groups fee fully new advertisements whereas high-performing natural posts sit unused. With at this time’s platforms, he argued, that makes little sense.
“If a bit of content material has already taken off organically, the platform has already advised you it really works,” he stated. “That’s your proof of idea. That’s what you need to be placing spend behind.”
His advice: determine top-performing natural content material, calmly adapt it with a transparent call-to-action, and use it as the muse for paid campaigns. Then scale spend on the variations that convert.
5. Faucet into Developments and Tradition—Authentically
Lastly, Aizaz inspired journey manufacturers to journey cultural waves when it is smart: main live shows, hit TV sequence, viral moments, and different popular culture touchpoints that form how individuals dream about journey.
The bottom line is to:
- Monitor traits and memes contained in the platforms
- Localize them with your personal landscapes, meals, and tales
- Be part of conversations in ways in which really feel pure, not compelled
Relatability, he confused, usually equals visibility within the eyes of the algorithm.
Turning Algorithms into Adventures
Aizaz closed with a reminder that journey journey has a built-in benefit within the consideration economic system: it already sells transformation, not simply transactions.
“We don’t simply promote being someplace new,” he stated. “We promote changing into somebody new.”
If the business can already flip curiosity into braveness on the path, he argued, then it could possibly be taught to show algorithms into adventures within the feed—as long as it stops being generic, leans into storytelling, and meets vacationers the place they now uncover the world: on their telephones.