Tour operators, it seems, have finally cottoned on to the fact that social media reaps cost-effective and measurable marketing rewards for their businesses.  And thank goodness. There is nary a single industry more suited to the world of social than travel and tourism. Travelers are known to be heavy users of social to stay connected with their family at home and share their experiences.

But while the industry has kind of barrelled over the hurdle of skepticism, half-assed attempts at the whole social thang are still all too common. While we’re sure there are good reasons for this, we thought a bit of inspiration might go a long way to encouraging some more innovative, competitive and lucrative efforts in social marketing.

So grab a cuppa and flick through Booking Boss' top 5 social media accounts for tourist attractions. These companies have put out some of the best social media campaigns and the results prove it. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA
This attraction is nailing it, and you can see by the high levels of interaction they’re achieving on each channel. Not only are they posting, but people are talking back.

How do they do it?

• Well, first the posts vary, switching between a range of interesting current and ongoing MET exhibitions

• They are doing different updates on each channel - which gives fans reason to connect with them across different channels

• Every single Pinterest pin links back to their website - great for SEO and increasing traffic

The result? High levels of engagement, and presumably higher website traffic (we don’t have their stats). Just check out the fantastic reviews and feedback on their social properties:

Facebook: 1.35m followers

Twitter: 1.02m followers

Pinterest: 559.1k followers

Instagram: 758k followers.

Taronga Zoo, Australia

The Zoo takes an interesting approach to social, using different channels to showcase the diverse parts of the business’ vision and mission.

Just some of their tactics include:

• Using social media to educate the public, and making sure to include some simple, low-cost video too (e.g. Who knew that funnel-web spiders need grooming?)

• Joining forces with other businesses to raise awareness on wildlife endangerment issues (e.g. Taronga Conservation Society Australia with support funding from Vodafone developing a world-first app to report illegal wildlife trade - called Wildlife Witness app.)

• Being careful to provide relevant content for all age groups.

• The attraction is making sure their social posts have some longevity too - with their Google + property showing a high engagement rate despite not having posted in it since 2014.

You’ll see a high level of participation here on each of Taronga’s social properties as a result:

Facebook: 128k followers

Twitter: 14.7k followers

Youtube: 3k subscribers

Instagram: 73.6k followers

Thredbo, Australia

Thredbo is cleverly using its social channels to communicate important information with visitors, but also to lure visitors to the region during high and low season.

Here’s how:

• Thredbo uses social channels to post the latest snow reports.

• They post useful content, including how-tos that are relevant to the area as well as exciting things to do during the warmer months e.g. mountain biking trails.

• Thredbo successfully gamifies the social experience using Youtube e.g. Thredbo GoPro Challenge which encourages repeat participation and visits.

• They create a palpable virtual experience with exciting video and action shots of snowboarders and skiers and beautiful landscape imagery. Who wouldn’t be at least tempted to go for the weekend?

The results speak for themselves:

Twitter: 6842 followers

Facebook: 80k followers

Instagram: 18k followers

Youtube: 1319 subscribers

English Heritage, UK

English Heritage, UK uses social to connect people with the story of England, tapping into a supportive and enthusiastic marketplace with interesting snippets and snaps.

Interesting tactics include:

• Using different content formats to communicate different stories, including highly engaging videos on Youtube

• Posting images of locations or interesting facts on Facebook draws visitors in to comment and share their own experiences of the location or event.

The results are in:

Youtube: 1879 subscribers

Twitter: 51.4k followers

Facebook: 242k followers

Wild about Whales, Australia

How do they do it?  

• Invite user participation on their channels where whale-lovers can share their latest coastal adventures, sightings, questions, and help others plan their adventures

• Post the latest news on whale sightings, trends or interesting facts

• Encourages the community to come together to track or share sightings, and get the latest news via their Wild About Whales App.

Facebook: 24k followers

Twitter: 5867 followers

Enough inspiration? Good. Let’s get to work.

• Think about how you can invite participation in your social platforms, and help your customers to create community around your offering.

• Create different content types, formats and topics to appeal to all of your audiences. Remember, it doesn’t need to be super slick - it just needs to be interesting.

• Use imagery and video to make your audiences’ mouths water. This is SO easy to do these days, there really is no excuse not to.

• Remember to link your posts, pins and tweets back to your website to increase traffic.

• Think about what each channel could be used for, who it could be used for, and what people might want to interact with there.

And there you have it – the 5 best social media accounts for attractions. We hope these examples have given you a whole lot of inspiration to kick off a social strategy of your own. Want to find out how your attraction can boost its social presence? Check out our on-demand webinar 8 simple social steps with expert Holly Galbraith. 

Booking Boss is an online booking system for tour operators and attraction providers. Trusted by many in the tourism industry, Booking Boss is about getting you out of the spreadsheets and into the sun. We provide free education resources for operators like you, to make your business the best it can possibly be.