Travel Influencers and Tourism Marketing: Content Strategies, Engagement and Transparency in Destination Promotion

Abstract

Background: Influencer marketing has become one of the most effective strategies in digital communication due to its capacity to generate trust, credibility and endorsement within segmented online communities. Within the tourism sector, travel influencers have been progressively integrated as key agents in destination and brand promotion, contributing to both the construction of tourism-related perceptions and travel decision-making. This study aims to analyse how travel influencers communicate and promote tourist destinations, focusing on their profiles, content formats, commercial transparency and audience engagement. Methods: The research is based on a quantitative content analysis of publications by leading Spanish travel influencers identified through the Forbes Best Content Creators 2025 ranking. The observation period covered March to July 2025. Analysis was structured around four analytical blocks comprising 17 variables related to influencer profile, format and content, commercial transparency and ethics, and interaction. Results: The results reveal consistent behavioural patterns associated with gender, destination type and narrative style. Male influencers are more frequently linked to adventure-oriented storytelling and natural landscapes, whereas female influencers tend to emphasise urban and cultural experiences. Short-form video emerges as the dominant format, generating higher interaction levels, while engagement proves to be a more informative indicator of effectiveness than follower count. Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of prioritising specialisation, narrative coherence, authenticity and transparency when integrating influencers into their communication strategies.

1. Introduction

Over the past decade, the rise in influencer marketing has profoundly transformed communication within the tourism sector. Visually oriented social media platforms, particularly Instagram and TikTok, have become central spaces for destination promotion, where images and short videos not only shape new forms of symbolic consumption but also operate as powerful persuasive tools in travellers’ decision-making processes (Băltescu & Untaru, 2025). The transition from the traditional tourist to the prosumer tourist (Toffler, 1980), capable of producing and disseminating personal experiences while simultaneously consuming tourism experiences, has altered the dynamics of the tourism industry and compelled brands and destination management organisations to adopt digital strategies grounded in influence and social interaction (Pettersen-Sobczyk, 2023).

Tourism is currently undergoing a profound transformation driven by digitalisation and the culture of connectivity. In this context, influencer marketing has become a core pillar of contemporary tourism communication, enabling the articulation of emotional, aspirational and participatory narratives that reshape the relationship between destinations and their audiences (Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2023; Pourazad et al., 2025). Influencers do not merely disseminate information; they interpret and give meaning to experiences, acting as cultural mediators and generators of trust (Ruiz Viñals et al., 2023; Hisham et al., 2025).

This study is situated within this transformative context and aims to analyse the communicative effectiveness of Spanish travel influencers in the promotion of tourism destinations through Instagram and TikTok. The research is grounded in the premise that digital influence cannot be explained solely by reach or popularity, but rather by the balanced interaction between content, credibility, authenticity and ethical values (Belanche et al., 2021; Iswanto et al., 2024; Javed et al., 2025). Accordingly, the study integrates the dimensions of influencer profile, content, transparency and interaction in order to assess their impact on communicative effectiveness and perceived credibility.

From a theoretical perspective, the research is justified by calls made by previous researchers to deepen understanding of three interrelated constructs: communicative effectiveness, authenticity and transparency. Recent literature (Iswanto et al., 2024; Javed et al., 2025; Blanco-Moreno et al., 2024) demonstrates that the effectiveness of digital messages does not depend exclusively on reach, but rather on the quality of interaction and the perception of honesty conveyed by the source. Consequently, examining how influencers balance aesthetic creativity with commercial disclosure and ethical communication is essential for advancing a comprehensive model of digital influence. Moreover, this study contributes to addressing the shortage of empirical analyses on influencer marketing in tourism identified in the recent literature (Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2023), by focusing on the Hispanic–European context and, in particular, Spain, where tourism represents a fundamental economic and cultural pillar (Atalayar, 2024; Iberia & PwC, 2022; OECD, 2024).

From a methodological standpoint, this research responds to limitations identified in prior studies by applying a systematic content analysis across two key platforms, Instagram and TikTok, through a mixed design that combines engagement metrics with qualitative narrative analysis. This approach overcomes the fragmentation of earlier research and provides a more rigorous overview of how the variables of profile, content, transparency and interaction shape digital tourism communication. Furthermore, the inclusion of TikTok, a platform that remains underexplored in tourism research, constitutes a novel empirical contribution to the field.

From a practical perspective, the study offers relevant insights for destination management and tourism marketing, proposing guidelines on the most effective and ethical communication strategies for engaging to hyperconnected audiences with a growing awareness of sustainability (Kilipiri et al., 2023). In an environment saturated with messages, understanding how influencers construct visual and emotional narratives aligned with the values of responsible tourism becomes essential for brands and institutions within the sector (Arora et al., 2024).

Despite the growing body of research on influencer marketing in tourism, significant conceptual and empirical gaps remain. These limitations are highlighted in recent studies drawing attention to the scarcity of comparative evidence between platforms such as Instagram and TikTok in the European tourism context, as well as the lack of approaches that simultaneously integrate variables related to influencer profile, visual narrative and commercial transparency (Ferreira & Zouain, 2024; Băltescu & Untaru, 2025; Wengel et al., 2022; Blanco-Moreno et al., 2024).

Additionally, there is limited empirical evidence on whether the ethical dimension of paid collaborations disclosure affects engagement. Although commercial transparency is crucial for influencer credibility, its empirical impact on engagement has been insufficiently examined. Studies addressing sponsored content disclosure (Gross & von Wangenheim, 2022; Saternus et al., 2024) report mixed effects and concur that the relationship between disclosure and audience participation remains underexplored. From an ethical perspective, further gaps persist regarding how clarity in the identification of collaborations affects user behaviour (Vuković & Pavković, 2025; Neira-Placer et al., 2025), particularly in tourism, where research has focused more on promotional potential than on transparency (Pettersen-Sobczyk, 2023). These gaps justify the need to empirically address the role of paid collaboration disclosure in shaping audience interaction.

This lack of evidence contains a comprehensive understanding of how communicative effectiveness operates in digital environments dominated by audiovisual content.

In line with this context, the main objective of this study is to analyse the communicative effectiveness of Spanish travel influencers in the promotion of tourism destinations on Instagram and TikTok, with particular attention to content strategies, audience engagement and commercial transparency. Based on this main objective, the following four specific objectives and corresponding hypotheses are proposed.

The specific objectives of this study are:

(I)

to examine the communicative strategies employed by Spanish travel influencers, considering format, visual narrative and type of destination represented;

(II)

evaluate the relationship between commercial transparency and perceived authenticity;

(III)

analyse the impact of influencer profile on levels of interaction;

(IV)

compare audience responses according to content type and platform.

From these objectives, the following hypotheses are derived:

H1. 

Content that portrays personal experiences and authentic emotions generates higher levels of interaction than content focused exclusively on destination or brand promotion.

H2. 

Transparent disclosure of commercial collaborations increases perceived credibility and authenticity, thereby fostering audience participation.

H3. 

Natural or experiential destinations give rise to intense emotional and participatory responses than urban or luxury-associated destinations.

H4. 

Due to its short and dynamic audiovisual format, TikTok generates higher average levels of interaction than Instagram.

Overall, this study seeks to contribute to knowledge on digital tourism communication through a rigorous content analysis that examines how Spanish travel influencers construct their messages, interact with their communities and project ethical values associated with transparency and sustainability.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Influencer Marketing and Tourism Communication

The evolution of research on influencer marketing in tourism reflects a transition from exploratory approaches to more sophisticated analytical perspectives. Early studies primarily focused on visibility and popularity on social media, offering a still limited understanding of the phenomenon (Magno & Cassia, 2018). Over time, the field has incorporated more complex models that integrate psychological, narrative and strategic dimensions, acknowledging the active role of influencers in shaping destination image and influencing travellers’ decision-making processes (Pourazad et al., 2025).

This evolution is documented in several systematic literature reviews that highlight the need for updated and comparative frameworks capable of contextualising findings according to the characteristics of emerging platforms and audiences (Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2023; Saini et al., 2023). More recently, the literature has shown an increase in methodological rigour and the integration of bibliometric approaches that allow for mapping the theoretical and empirical development of the field, underscoring the growing complexity of the digital ecosystem and the persistence of relevant research gaps (Javed et al., 2025).

The relevance of influencer marketing becomes particularly pronounced in the tourism sector due to the specific characteristics of tourism products, which are largely intangible, experiential and associated with high levels of perceived risk. In this context, travellers rely heavily on social information and peer-based recommendations to reduce uncertainty (Buhalis & Law, 2008). Travel influencers therefore act as experiential narrators who translate destinations into emotionally resonant stories, contributing to destination image construction and influencing travel intentions (Martínez-Sala et al., 2019; Pourazad et al., 2025).

From this perspective, influencer marketing in tourism can be understood as an extension of experiential and symbolic consumption, in which visual storytelling, lifestyle representation and affective engagement play a core role. Influencers function not only as information sources but also as cultural intermediaries who frame tourism experiences through personal narratives, reinforcing perceptions of authenticity and trust.

In practical terms, within tourism communication, influencer marketing materialises through specific digital communication strategies that shape how destinations are represented and experienced online. These strategies include visual storytelling based on short-form video formats, narrative framing centred on personal experience, platform-specific content adaptation (e.g., reels on Instagram and short videos on TikTok), and engagement-oriented practices designed to stimulate interaction and emotional connection with audiences. Such strategies contribute to the construction of destination meaning and to the persuasive effectiveness of influencer-mediated communication.

2.2. Trust and Authenticity

The literature review reveals a convergence around three key explanatory dimensions of digital influence in tourism: trust, content authenticity and the increasing professionalisation of the influencer ecosystem. In the post-pandemic period, tourism communication has shifted towards messages perceived as useful, truthful and emotionally empathetic, with heightened sensitivity to trust, transparency and travel safety. This shift has been documented in both academic research and industry reports. Barrientos-Báez et al. (2022) note that the health crisis reshaped informational priorities, positioning clarity and responsibility as central pillars of tourism communication. Complementarily, Saini et al. (2023) emphasise that trust in digital endorsers depends on the coherence between their lifestyle and communicative discourse, as well as on transparent recognition of commercial collaborations, which together constitute the foundation of credibility.

Likewise, Berjozkina and Garanti (2020) provide evidence of the importance of local authenticity in tourism promotion, showing that micro-influencers tend to generate stronger trust-based bonds within smaller communities. Industry reports by HypeAuditor (2024–2025) reinforce these tendencies by documenting the consolidation of influencer marketing professionalisation, the growth of short-form formats and the increasing demand for authentic content. Taken together, these findings confirm that authenticity and trust are fundamental pillars underpinning the relationship between influencers and audiences, and key determinants of communicative effectiveness in tourism contexts.

Qualitative and mixed-method studies further extend this perspective by exploring follower motivations and perceptions of authenticity. Lopes Da Silva et al. (2023) demonstrate that identification with influencers’ values and lifestyles, along with the practical usefulness of content, explains audience loyalty. These conclusions are reinforced by Maldonado-Castro et al. (2024), who show that commercial transparency, expressed through labels such as #ad or #colab, enhances ethical perceptions, although its impact on interaction is ambivalent, as it may strengthen trust or reduce perceived spontaneity (Bertaglia et al., 2025; Ershov, 2021; Musiyiwa et al., 2023; Naderer et al., 2021). Additionally, the recent literature introduces sustainability as an emerging dimension within travel influencer discourse. Kilipiri et al. (2023) highlight that eco-influencers can promote responsible tourism behaviours, although the effect of such messages on visit intention remains limited and contingent on cultural context.

2.3. Communicative Effectiveness and Visual Narrative

Visual narrative plays a central role in the communicative effectiveness of tourism influencer marketing and can be understood as a core digital communication strategy within this context. Through image composition, human presence and audiovisual storytelling, influencers deploy deliberate mechanisms aimed at enhancing engagement and persuasive impact. The emphasis on trust and authenticity coexists with findings from prior literature on communicative effectiveness grounded in content characteristics and visual storytelling. Blanco-Moreno et al. (2024), based on the analysis of more than 27,000 Instagram posts using artificial intelligence, show that images featuring human presence and focusing on tourism points of interest significantly increase audience interaction. Similarly, Ruiz Viñals et al. (2023) underline that destination type and influencer gender shape visual style and narrative, revealing a tendency towards aesthetic and emotional differentiation of messages.

The systematic review “Welcome to the destination: Social media influencers as key determinant of travel decision (Saini et al., 2023)” provides a conceptual framework explaining how digital influence operates through cognitive and emotional pathways, stimulating inspiration, evaluation of alternatives and, ultimately, travel intention. These approaches converge on the idea that the communicative effectiveness of tourism influencers depends not solely on visual appeal, but also on coherence between message, creator identity and audience expectations (Boerman et al., 2022; Ong et al., 2022). In this sense, audiovisual content becomes a form of symbolic persuasion that combines aesthetics, emotion and credibility to influence travellers’ decision-making (Pourazad et al., 2025; Belanche et al., 2021).

2.4. Credibility, Legal Transparency and Commercial Disclosure

The literature review reveals broad consensus regarding the influence of communicative and emotional factors on the effectiveness of tourism influencer marketing, while also exposing significant methodological and conceptual gaps. Most studies rely on cross-sectional designs and descriptive approaches, limiting the ability to establish causal relationships between variables. Despite the growing number of content analyses, longitudinal and experimental studies remain scarce, thereby restricting insights into the temporal evolution of engagement and credibility perceptions (Kumar, 2025; Javed et al., 2025).

Another critical issue concerns the lack of standardisation in interaction metrics. Various sources, including HypeAuditor (2024–2025), highlight the need to adjust reach and engagement measurements to avoid distortions caused by non-organic audiences or automated responses, a phenomenon empirically documented in studies on bots and artificial engagement in influencer marketing (Kim & Han, 2020). This challenge is linked to the increasing professionalisation of the sector and the need to define ethical and transparency indicators that allow for a comprehensive assessment of communicative effectiveness beyond simple and heterogeneous metrics, thus motivating recent proposals aimed at standardising and validating multidimensional engagement models (Levesque & Pons, 2023).

Furthermore, relatively few studies explicitly address legal and ethical dimensions as central variables in the relationship between influencers and tourism (Fedeli & Cheng, 2022). From a legal perspective, promotional activity by influencers in tourism is situated within regulatory frameworks that require transparency and authenticity in commercial communication. In Spain, the General Advertising Law (Law 34/1988) defines misleading advertising as unlawful, while the Unfair Competition Law (Law 3/1991) defines as unfair any practice that may mislead consumers through false or ambiguous information or by concealing the commercial nature of the message. Similarly, the Information Society Services and Electronic Commerce Law (Law 34/2002) mandates that all electronic commercial communications be clearly identifiable, a requirement particularly relevant in social media environments where the boundary between entertainment and promotion is blurred. In the audiovisual domain, the General Audiovisual Communication Law (Law 13/2022) explicitly prohibits surreptitious advertising and regulates product placement, allowing it only when its commercial nature is recognisable and does not mislead audiences.

This legal framework indicates that commercial transparency, including the explicit identification of paid collaborations through labels or clear disclosures, is not only an ethical best practice and a legal requirement to prevent covert advertising (Law 34/2002, art. 20; Autocontrol & Spanish Association of Advertisers, 2025). Current regulations accordingly emphasise the need to ensure that influencer messages are recognisable as advertising when a commercial interest exists, thereby reinforcing consumer trust and ensuring fair competition among destinations, brands and tourism operators.

In sum, the literature suggests that the communicative effectiveness of tourism influencers is shaped by the interaction between credibility, authenticity and ethical and legal coherence. Nevertheless, the field requires further methodological advancement to explore these relationships in a comparative and dynamic manner, taking into account the diversity of platforms, audiences and cultural contexts in which digital tourism communication unfolds.

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Research Design and Sample

This study adopts a quantitative methodological approach based on content analysis, combining manual coding with systematic data processing using digital tools. The unit of analysis corresponds to the individual publication (post or short video) on Instagram and TikTok. The sample consists of eight Spanish travel influencers selected from the Forbes 2025 Ranking of Travel Content Creators in Spain, which is considered a benchmark of visibility and relevance within the digital landscape.

The selection followed a non-probabilistic, purposive sampling strategy, commonly employed in exploratory and descriptive studies based on content analysis. Influencers were selected according to predefined criteria: (a) an explicit and sustained focus on travel-related content; (b) high visibility within the Spanish tourism influencer ecosystem; and (c) consistent levels of audience interaction during the observation period. These criteria ensured the thematic relevance of the sample and its suitability for analysing digital communication strategies in tourism influencer marketing, rather than maximising representativeness in statistical terms. The selection of eight macro influencers from the Forbes ranking responds to the objective of analysing highly visible and agenda-setting forms of tourism communication. While previous research has highlighted the relevance of micro-influencers due to their perceived proximity and trustworthiness, the present study focuses on macro influencers because of their capacity to reach large audiences, normalise communicative practices and shape dominant destination narratives. This approach enables the examination of mainstream influencer strategies with a strong impact on destination imaginaries. Nevertheless, this sampling decision limits the statistical generalisability of the findings, which should therefore be interpreted within the specific context of high-visibility influencer communication (see Table 1).

Table 1. Sample of Travel Influencers (Forbes Ranking).

Travel Influencer	Followers Instagram	Followers TikTok	Type of Influencer
Influencer 1	534 K	932.3 K	Macro
Influencer 2	1 M	4.2 M	Macro
Influencer 3	590 K	798.3 K	Macro
Influencer 4	1.2 M	300.1 K	Macro
Influencer 5	779 K	625.8 K	Macro
Influencer 6	1.1 M	454.6 K	Macro
Influencer 7	515 K	668.2 K	Macro
Influencer 8	641 K	399.3 K	Macro

Data collection was conducted manually by extracting information directly from the official accounts of the selected influencers on the analysed platforms. The observation period covered five months, from March to July 2025, which corresponds to one of the most strategic periods for the tourism industry: the pre-summer campaign. This time frame allowed for the collection of a representative sample of content, including both organic publications and paid collaborations.

Data extraction followed a systematic and sequential protocol. First, all publications posted by the selected influencers during the observation period were identified. Second, the content was screened to ensure thematic relevance to tourism communication. Reposted content, giveaways, recycled posts and publications unrelated to travel were excluded, as they do not represent original destination-related communication strategies and could introduce noise into the analysis. This procedure ensured the thematic coherence and analytical consistency of the final corpus.

3.2. Research Techniques and Analytical Variables

Content analysis enables the formulation of inference variables that can be systematically applied to a sample, allowing for valid and replicable conclusions. This technique is particularly suitable for the objective, systematic and quantitative description of manifest communication content, following the classical definition proposed by Berelson (1952) and later developed by Holsti (1969), Krippendorff (1990) and Kerlinger (1986). As noted by Wimmer and Dominick (2011), content analysis constitutes an effective tool for contrasting empirical reality with media representations. From this perspective, its application in the present study enables inferences to be drawn about the communicative strategies of brands and influencers through the systematic and objective identification of their discursive and visual characteristics on Instagram and TikTok.

Before presenting the variables, it is important to note that this study is embedded within a consolidated line of research focused on influencer marketing and commercial transparency in digital communication. The analytical model is grounded in an extensive review of the literature and previous studies addressing the intersection between digital communication, advertising ethics and destination promotion. Specifically, the literature review integrates contributions on digital communication strategies (visual storytelling, narrative framing and platform-specific formats), ethical dimensions of influencer marketing (commercial transparency and disclosure practices), and their role in shaping destination image and audience engagement, which are operationalised in the analytical dimensions of this study.

Key theoretical contributions include the work of Ramos Gutiérrez and Fernández Blanco (2021), which examines regulation and responsible communication in influencer marketing, as well as studies by Martínez-Sala et al. (2019) and Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al. (2023), which conceptualise the figure of the tourism influencer and their role in destination image construction. These are complemented by the reviews of Iswanto et al. (2024) and Javed et al. (2025), which provide bibliometric and systematic perspectives on the field, and by contributions from Maldonado-Castro et al. (2024) and Kilipiri et al. (2023), which focus on commercial transparency and the ethical sustainability of digital communication. Additional studies by Berjozkina and Garanti (2020) and Barrientos-Báez et al. (2022) reinforce the importance of authenticity and social responsibility in tourism marketing, while Blanco-Moreno et al. (2024) and Ruiz Viñals et al. (2023) provide empirical evidence on visual narrative, human presence and interaction. Finally, HypeAuditor reports (2024–2025) offer updated data on sector professionalisation and engagement metrics.

In total, 17 variables were identified, synthesising conceptual and methodological advances in this line of research and proposing an integrative analytical model that combines communicative effectiveness, authenticity and ethics as central dimensions of influencer marketing in tourism. The analytical variables presented in Table 2 were derived from an extensive review of prior literature on tourism influencer marketing, digital communication strategies and advertising ethics. Variables related to influencer profile and content typologies are grounded in studies on destination image construction and influencer communication (e.g., Martínez-Sala et al., 2019; Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2023; Blanco-Moreno et al., 2024). Indicators associated with commercial transparency and ethical communication are informed by research on sponsorship disclosure and influencer regulation (Gross & von Wangenheim, 2022; Musiyiwa et al., 2023). Interaction metrics follow established practices in social media engagement analysis (Levesque & Pons, 2023; HypeAuditor 2024–2025).

Table 2. Analysis variables.

Item	Variable	Description/Indicator
Influencer profile	Name	Name of the user in Instagram and Tik Tok
	Followers	Number of followers
	Gender	Gender of the content creator (Female, Male)
	Social Media	Instagram TikTok
	Type of Influencer	Mega, macro, micro according to the number of followers
	Nationality	Country of origen (Spain)
Format/content	Type of Content	Informative, Experiential, Emotional, Promotional
	Human Presence	Indicates whether the influencer or other people appear in the image/video.
	Type of Destination	Urban, natural, cultural, event-related, or luxury
	Topic	Predominant style of the visual narrative (adventure, well-being, luxury, nature, entertainment)
Commercial transparency and ethics	Commercial collaboration	Presence of a collaboration disclosure label (#ad, #colab, #publi).
	Brand identification	Explicit mention or tagging of the tourism brand.
	Type of brand presence	Visual, textual, or verbal mention
Interaction	Number of “likes”	Total reactions per post
	Comments	Total number of responses or comments per post
	Shares	Posts shared by users
	Engagement rate	Interaction ratio per number of followers

The analytical variables (Table 2) were classified into four analytical blocks: (a) influencer profile, (b) format and content, (c) commercial transparency and ethics, and (d) interaction.

3.3. Data Analysis

The content analysis was conducted manually by a single coder with expertise in digital communication and tourism studies. Prior to the coding process, a structured coding sheet with predefined operational definitions was developed for all variables. Given the interpretative nature of several categories, such as content objective (emotional, experiential, promotional or informative), the coding followed an iterative procedure in which categories were continuously reviewed to ensure internal consistency. As a single-coder approach was adopted, intercoder reliability statistics were not calculated; this aspect is acknowledged as a methodological limitation of the study. Each publication was coded using a structured coding sheet based on predefined operational definitions for each variable. Categories such as Type of Content (informative, experiential, emotional or promotional) were assigned according to the dominant communicative intent of the publication, as identified through visual and textual cues. To ensure consistency in category assignment, the coding process was iterative and involved continuous verification during data collection. Ambiguous cases were reviewed and re-evaluated to maintain internal coherence of the dataset, in line with established practices in quantitative content analysis. The variable “Content Objective” was operationalised using mutually exclusive categories based on the dominant communicative intent of each publication. Posts were classified as emotional when the primary focus was on eliciting affective responses (e.g., emotions, mood or personal feelings); experiential when the emphasis was on the lived travel experience or sensory engagement; promotional when the content explicitly aimed to promote a destination, brand or commercial offer; and informative when the post primarily provided factual or practical information. In cases where multiple objectives were present within the same publication, the category corresponding to the predominant communicative intent was assigned.

Data analysis followed a quantitative approach based on content analysis techniques. Each publication was coded according to the predefined variables, generating a database processed using Microsoft Excel. This procedure enabled the calculation of frequencies, mean values and descriptive relationships between the analysed dimensions. The analytical framework is grounded in established theoretical constructs of communicative effectiveness, authenticity and transparency and examines their relationship with audience interaction on social media.

The analytical procedure was structured in three stages:

(1)

classification of publications according to content and format criteria;

(2)

identification of transparency elements and ethical coherence in commercial collaborations;

(3)

calculation of interaction indicators (number of likes, comments and engagement rate). This approach allows for an integrated evaluation of the communicative effectiveness of influencers in their role as mediators between brands and tourism audiences.

As a result, a final corpus of 1143 publications posted by the eight selected travel influencers during the observation period (March–July 2025) on Instagram and TikTok was obtained. All study variables were identified, systematised and quantified for subsequent analysis.

The final size of the dataset is appropriate for content analysis studies on social media, as it substantially exceeds the thresholds commonly used in previous digital tourism research. Moreover, the five-month observation period captures thematic, seasonal and commercial variability, ensuring a representative sample of the communicative activity of the selected influencers.

To facilitate a clearer understanding of the research design and procedural logic of the study, Figure 1 has been incorporated as a visual synthesis of the methodological process. The figure illustrates the sequential stages of the methodology, from sample selection and data collection to content screening, coding and data analysis. Its inclusion responds to the complexity of the research procedure and aims to enhance methodological transparency, allowing readers to more easily follow the analytical workflow and assess the robustness and replicability of the study.

Figure 1. Methodological process.

4. Results

4.1. Distribution of Publications by Platform and Gender

The final sample consisted of 1143 publications generated by eight Spanish travel influencers on Instagram and TikTok (Table 3). Of the total corpus, 684 posts were published on TikTok (59.8%), while 459 posts corresponded to Instagram (40.2%). Regarding gender distribution, female influencers accounted for a higher proportion of content (58.8%), compared to male influencers (41.2%).

Table 3. Distribution of publications by platform and gender.

	Category	n	%
Platform	TikTok	684	59.8%
	Instagram	459	40.2%
Gender	Female	672	58.8%
	Male	471	41.2%

These results indicate a greater intensity of content production on TikTok during the analysed period, as well as a higher representation of female creators within the selected sample.

4.2. Content Formats

In terms of format, the sample reveals a clear predominance of audiovisual content. Of the 1143 analysed publications, 86.0% correspond to video content, either in the form of Instagram reels or TikTok short videos. Photographic posts represent 9.3% of the total, while mixed formats combining photography and video account for the remaining 4.7% (Table 4).

Table 4. Content format and influencer presence.

	Category	n	%
Format	Vídeo/reel	983	86.0%
	Photography	106	9.3%
	Both	54	4.7%
Influencer presence	Yes	1.139	99.6%
	No	4	0.4%

The presence of the influencer within the content is almost universal: 99.6% of the publications feature the creator on screen. This finding highlights the centrality of the influencer as a narrative axis and as a resource for authenticity, reinforcing the notion that emotional connection with audiences is primarily articulated through personal exposure. The near-constant presence of the creator also suggests a communication strategy based on symbolic identification and the construction of aspirational lifestyles, which are key elements in tourism promotion on social media.

Overall, the results of this section indicate that digital tourism communication relies predominantly on audiovisual formats and on the direct presence of influencers, both of which enhance narrative immersion and emotional resonance.

4.3. Destination Representation and Content Types

Urban destinations are the most frequently represented (62.5%), followed by natural environments (19.3%) and event-related content (15.9%). Cultural destinations and transport-related content appear only marginally (2.2% and 0.1%, respectively) (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Type of destination represented.

To further examine how destination choice interacts with platform characteristics, a cross-tabulation between destination type and social media platform was conducted. The results indicate that Instagram maximises engagement for urban (0.97%) and natural destinations (1.06%), whereas TikTok achieves its highest engagement levels in event-related content (1.21%). This pattern suggests that each platform favours different types of tourism experiences: Instagram amplifies visually recognisable destinations, landscapes and “photographable” experiences, while TikTok, due to its fast-paced narrative language, favours dynamic, action-oriented content typical of events and social activities.

In both platforms, cultural destinations show significantly lower levels of interaction, confirming their limited capacity to generate engagement in environments dominated by aspirational aesthetics and audiovisual immediacy.

Regarding communicative objectives, emotional content predominates (37.4%), followed by experiential content (31.5%). Promotional messages account for 25.6%, while purely informative content represents only 5.5% of the sample (Table 5).

Table 5. Content objective.

Objective	n	%
Emotional	427	37.4%
Experiential	360	31.5%
Promotional	293	25.6%
Informative	63	5.5%

4.4. Commercial Transparency and Brand Presence

The presence of commercial elements within the analysed content allows for an assessment of transparency levels and the ways in which influencers communicate collaborations with tourism destinations or companies. Of the 1143 publications, only 72 posts (6.3%) include an explicit disclosure of collaboration through hashtags such as #ad, #publi, #sponsored or equivalent labels (Table 6).

Table 6. Commercial transparency.

	Category	n	%
Collaboration disclosure label	Yes	72	6.3%
	No	1.064	93.1%
	ND	7	0.6%
Brand identification	Yes	415	36.3%
	No	728	63.7%

Despite this low level of explicit transparency, 415 publications (36.3%) feature some form of brand presence, either through mentions, visual displays or tagging of tourism-related brands, including accommodation, restaurants, transport services, leisure activities or destinations. This discrepancy between explicit commercial disclosure and brand presence suggests practices close to covert advertising, a phenomenon previously identified in studies on influencer marketing in tourism. Furthermore, the high proportion of branded content relative to the limited use of regulatory labels points to inconsistent compliance with advertising self-regulation guidelines.

Among publications featuring brands, visual integration (logos, products, establishments) is the predominant modality, followed by textual mentions in captions. This trend indicates that commercial integration occurs primarily at an aesthetic or environmental level, reinforcing aspirational atmospheres associated with destinations or lifestyles rather than explicit promotional messaging.

Overall, the results reveal that commercial transparency remains limited in digital tourism communication, despite the relatively frequent presence of brands. This gap between effective promotion and explicit disclosure has direct implications for audience trust and for the regulation of advertising practices on social media, and represents a critical issue for understanding both the effectiveness and the ethical dimension of influencer marketing in tourism.

4.5. Engagement by Platform, Format and Destination Type

Engagement analysis was conducted using the standard formula commonly applied in social media and influencer marketing research, which calculates the proportion of interactions generated by each publication relative to the size of the influencer’s community on the corresponding platform. Specifically, likes, comments, and shares were summed and then divided by the total number of followers, with the resulting value expressed as a percentage. The results reveal significant differences depending on the digital environment, content format and type of destination represented.

The overall average engagement rate for the entire corpus is 5.72%, indicating a high capacity for audience mobilisation among the analysed travel influencers.

When comparing platforms, differences are minimal. TikTok records an average engagement rate of 5.84%, slightly higher than Instagram’s 5.55%. This proximity suggests that both platforms achieve comparable levels of interaction once metrics are normalised by audience size, challenging the widespread assumption that TikTok systematically generates higher engagement. In this case, Instagram performs at a level very close to TikTok, despite its more curated and aspirational aesthetic.

Format-based analysis confirms the superior effectiveness of audiovisual content. Video posts (reels and TikToks) achieve an engagement rate of 5.93%, while mixed formats combining video and photography record the highest value (6.00%). In contrast, photography-only posts show significantly lower engagement (3.71%). These findings confirm the dominance of dynamic storytelling in contemporary tourism communication and audience preference for short, visual and immersive content.

Regarding destination type, natural environments generate the highest engagement (7.17%), followed by urban destinations (5.97%) and cultural destinations (4.45%). Event-related content exhibits the lowest engagement level (3.15%), indicating that despite its dynamic nature, it does not proportionally activate audience responses.

Taken together, these results show that the communicative effectiveness of tourism influencers depends on a combination of factors: platform, content format and type of experience represented. While TikTok maintains a slight overall advantage, Instagram achieves nearly equivalent engagement levels. Video clearly emerges as the most effective format, and natural destinations consolidate their position as the most attractive for digital audiences. A summary can be seen in Table 7.

Table 7. Engagement.

	Category	Engagement (%)
Platform	Instagram	5.84%
	TikTok	5.55%
Format	Video/reel	5.93%
	Photography	3.71%
	Mix Content	6.00%
Type of destination	Events	3.15%
	Urban	5.97%
	Natural	7.17%
	Transport	8.13%
	Cultural	4.45%

4.6. Relationships Between Follower Volume, Interaction Types and Engagement

To further explore the factors explaining communicative effectiveness, correlation analyses were conducted between the main quantitative metrics of the study: number of followers, likes, comments, shares and total engagement. The results allow for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between audience size and user response, as well as the forms of interaction that contribute most strongly to engagement.

The findings indicate that engagement is strongly associated with likes, showing a very high correlation (r = 0.93, p < 0.001). This suggests that the ability to trigger rapid, low-effort reactions constitutes the primary driver of interaction on Instagram and TikTok, platforms characterised by fast consumption and emotional immediacy. In contrast, the correlation between engagement and comments is moderate and positive (r = 0.45, p < 0.001), indicating that discursive participation, which requires greater cognitive effort, plays a secondary role compared to immediate reactions.

A particularly relevant finding is the weak and negative relationship, between follower count and engagement (r = −0.11, p < 0.01). Although statistically significant, the small magnitude of this association indicates that community size does not meaningfully predict communicative effectiveness. Instead, these results suggest that qualitative factors such as visual storytelling, alignment between platform and content, and perceived authenticity are more closely related to engagement outcomes than audience magnitude. This evidence supports prior literature questioning the equivalence between popularity and influence, emphasising that interaction is better explained by symbolic and emotional resonance than by potential reach.

Overall, the correlation analyses confirm that social media interaction operates primarily through rapid and reactive dynamics, and that the communicative effectiveness of tourism influencers depends less on follower volume than on the capacity of content to elicit immediate and emotionally driven responses.

5. Discussion

The results of the study allow for an integrated response to the research objectives and hypotheses, offering a deeper understanding of how travel influencers shape digital tourism communication. Overall, the findings indicate that communicative effectiveness does not depend on a single factor, but rather on the interaction between content format, type of destination represented, alignment with platform-specific language, the influencer’s narrative profile and the level of commercial transparency. These elements reveal a complex communicative ecosystem in which performativity, aesthetics, credibility and algorithmic logics converge.

Within this framework, the results support the conceptualisation of influencers as cultural mediators, as proposed in the literature on tourism narratives. Their ability to transform travel experiences into visual and emotional stories with high symbolic impact contributes to shaping destination perceptions and guiding travellers’ decisions. This finding reinforces the relevance of self-branding, performativity and perceived authenticity as central pillars of contemporary digital tourism communication. These results are consistent with previous research that highlights the role of influencers as narrative and symbolic intermediaries in tourism communication (Martínez-Sala et al., 2019; Pourazad et al., 2025). In line with earlier studies, the findings confirm that engagement is closely linked to experiential storytelling, emotional framing and the personal presence of the influencer, rather than to informational density or purely descriptive content. This reinforces the idea that digital tourism communication operates primarily through affective and experiential mechanisms.

First, the comparison between Instagram and TikTok reveals that both platforms generate very similar levels of engagement (5.55% and 5.84%, respectively), which requires a nuanced interpretation of the initial expectations. Although previous literature suggests that TikTok tends to favour higher interaction due to its discovery-oriented algorithmic architecture, the results show that the platform itself is not a determinant factor. Rather, effectiveness depends on the degree to which content is adapted to the narrative codes of each digital environment. Accordingly, both Instagram and TikTok can achieve comparable levels of engagement when content is constructed around coherent aesthetics, emotional resonance and alignment with user expectations. This finding partially nuances earlier assumptions that TikTok systematically outperforms Instagram in terms of engagement (Wengel et al., 2022), suggesting instead that platform-specific affordances only translate into higher interaction when they are effectively aligned with content strategy and narrative style.

The results related to content format clearly confirm H1, as video emerges as the most effective resource for activating interaction. Its capacity to condense emotion, dynamism and influencer presence is consistent with the literature on tourism visuality and digital performativity, which highlights the role of the creator as the narrative axis of the tourism experience. In contrast, photography registers substantially lower engagement levels, thereby evidencing a consolidated shift towards more immersive and sensory forms of communication. This predominance of video also aligns with perspectives on tourism visuality and the attention economy, which emphasise how dynamic formats enhance sensory immersion and emotional identification, thus reinforcing perceived authenticity.

Second, with respect to H2, which proposed that transparent disclosure of commercial collaborations increases perceived credibility and authenticity, thereby fostering audience participation, the findings require a more nuanced interpretation. The analysis reveals a pronounced lack of explicit disclosure, despite a substantial presence of tourism-related brands in influencer publications. While transparency does not appear to significantly increase short-term engagement metrics, it emerges as a structurally relevant factor for credibility and trust. This result suggests that transparency operates less as an immediate engagement trigger and more as a condition for ethical legitimacy and long-term credibility. Accordingly, H2 is partially supported: transparent disclosure contributes to perceived authenticity and trustworthiness, although its influence on audience participation may be indirect or mediated over time.

Third, findings related to destination type allow for a refinement of H3. Contrary to expectations, event-related content does not generate the highest engagement levels. Instead, natural destinations elicit the strongest audience response (7.17%), followed by urban destinations (5.97%). From the perspective of experiential authenticity, this pattern suggests that users tend to value scenarios associated with wellbeing, disconnection and scenic beauty, attributes that facilitate stronger emotional resonance. Although events are dynamic by nature, they appear to generate lower symbolic identification, possibly due to content saturation or difficulties in integrating them into more intimate or personal narratives. This result contrasts with studies that emphasise the high engagement potential of event-based content and highlights the importance of contextual and emotional congruence between destination type and influencer narrative (Ruiz Viñals et al., 2023). It suggests that engagement is not driven by dynamism alone, but by the capacity of destinations to be framed as meaningful and emotionally relatable experiences.

One of the most significant findings of the study concerns the pronounced lack of commercial transparency. While 36.3% of the publications include tourism-related brands, only 6.3% explicitly disclose collaborations. This gap reveals a widespread practice of implicit commercial promotion. The implications of this phenomenon are both theoretical and practical. It directly affects influencer credibility, undermines perceptions of authenticity and places users in a position of interpretative uncertainty. Contrary to what was hypothesised in H2, transparency does not increase engagement; however, it remains a fundamental element for trust and message legitimacy. In a context where authenticity is a central value, commercial opacity generates tensions between aspirational aesthetics and communicative responsibility, representing a structural challenge for contemporary tourism communication. Moreover, the discrepancy between brand presence and explicit disclosure intensifies ongoing debates around source credibility in digital environments, as opacity may erode the influencer’s symbolic capital even if immediate engagement remains unaffected. This finding is consistent with previous research reporting mixed effects of disclosure on engagement (Gross & von Wangenheim, 2022; Musiyiwa et al., 2023) and confirms that the absence of negative engagement effects does not imply ethical or communicative neutrality. Instead, transparency emerges as a key dimension for long-term credibility rather than short-term interaction.

Finally, correlation analyses confirm H4, showing that follower count is largely unrelated to engagement. This finding challenges the widespread assumption that larger profiles are necessarily more influential. Instead, interaction is driven by narrative quality, discursive coherence and the ability of content to elicit immediate emotional responses. This result aligns with the growing industry trend towards micro- and mid-tier influencers, whose impact is often proportionally greater due to the symbolic closeness they maintain with their communities.

Taken together, the findings demonstrate that digital tourism communication is structured around a delicate balance between influencer performativity, audiovisual aesthetics, perceived authenticity and commercial transparency. Rather than depending on isolated factors such as platform choice, message typology or audience size, communicative effectiveness emerges from the coherence between these elements and their alignment with audience expectations and platform-specific algorithmic logic. This multidimensional approach contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of influencers in shaping contemporary tourism imaginaries and opens new avenues for exploring how authenticity, credibility and emotion are negotiated within a deeply visual and mediated ecosystem. From a theoretical perspective, these results contribute to influencer marketing literature by reinforcing a multidimensional understanding of communicative effectiveness, in which engagement emerges from the interaction between narrative strategy, platform logic, authenticity and transparency rather than from audience size alone. From a practical perspective, the findings highlight the need for destination marketers to prioritise ethical communication, experiential storytelling and narrative coherence when designing influencer collaborations, moving beyond reach-based selection criteria.

6. Limitations and Directions for Future Research

Finally, it is important to contextualise the results of this study. The analysis focuses on a five-month period and on a specific set of influencers selected through purposive sampling, which allows for a detailed and in-depth examination of the phenomenon under study. While this approach limits the scope of statistical generalisation, it provides analytical depth and establishes a solid foundation for future research that may expand both the temporal framework and the sample size.

In addition, the sample consists exclusively of Spanish content creators, enabling a precise interpretation of the findings within the sociocultural and media context of the Spanish market. This contextualised focus is particularly relevant given that patterns of digital and tourism consumption may vary across countries. Similarly, the study concentrates on Instagram and TikTok, currently dominant platforms in digital communication, allowing for a focused analysis of their specific dynamics.

Nevertheless, the results open up promising avenues for future research. Subsequent studies could extend the analysis to other national and cultural contexts, incorporate emerging digital platforms, and apply longitudinal methodologies, advanced multimodal analyses or international comparative designs in order to further contrast and enrich the findings presented here.

7. Conclusions

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the role of travel influencers in digital tourism communication, based on the analysis of 1143 publications generated by eight Spanish creators on Instagram and TikTok. The findings yield relevant conclusions for both academic research and the strategic management of tourism marketing.

First, the predominance of short-form audiovisual content and the centrality of the influencer as a narrative figure are clearly confirmed. The near-constant presence of the creator on screen and the strong prevalence of reel- and TikTok-style videos reflect a communication model grounded in visual performativity, emotion and the construction of a coherent public identity. This pattern reinforces the role of self-branding and embodied storytelling as essential elements of contemporary tourism communication.

Second, although emotional and experiential content is the most frequent, effectiveness does not depend on message type alone, but on its capacity to activate visual and emotional resonance. The results show that format, particularly video, is more strongly associated with engagement levels than explicit communicative intent of the message. At the same time, commercial transparency emerges as a critical issue. While only 6.3% of publications explicitly disclose collaborations, more than one-third include brand presence. Although this lack of transparency does not increase engagement, it poses significant risks to influencer credibility and, by extension, to audience trust in tourism communication. This finding highlights the need to move towards clearer, more ethical practices aligned with existing regulations.

Third, the results nuance the assumption that certain destination types systematically generate higher interaction. Contrary to expectations, natural destinations, rather than events, achieve the highest engagement levels, followed by urban environments. This pattern suggests that audiences respond more strongly to scenarios associated with wellbeing, scenic aesthetics and experiential authenticity. Event-related content, despite its narrative dynamism, shows lower performance, indicating that symbolic saturation or limited emotional identification may constrain its effectiveness on social media.

Fourth, platform comparison reveals that Instagram and TikTok exhibit very similar engagement levels, challenging the notion of TikTok’s inherent structural superiority. The decisive factor lies less in the platform itself than in the alignment of content with the language, rhythm and expectations of each digital environment. These findings confirm that communicative effectiveness depends not on multichannel presence per se, but on narrative and visual coherence between content and platform.

Finally, advanced correlation analyses demonstrate that engagement rates are independent of audience size, undermining the assumption that profiles with more followers are necessarily more effective. Interaction is better explained by perceived authenticity, discursive coherence, content aesthetics and the influencer’s ability to activate emotionally meaningful micro-narratives.

From a practical perspective, the results suggest that destination management should prioritise collaboration models grounded in ethical communication, commercial transparency, strategic selection of audiovisual formats and the choice of creators whose narrative style aligns with destination identity. The higher effectiveness of natural destination content also points to opportunities for campaigns that integrate values of sustainability, wellbeing and emotional connection with place.

The study demonstrates that digital tourism communication is a multidimensional phenomenon in which aesthetics, authenticity, narrative, platform dynamics and transparency converge. For brands and destinations, the findings imply the need to work with creators whose credibility and discursive coherence are sustainable over time. For academia, the results open new lines of inquiry into how the intersection of content, technology and digital culture shapes contemporary influence and emerging tourism imaginaries.