Top 10 Most Popular Travel Brands on YouTube in May

YouTube turned nine on May 29th and just days later the video for “Gangnam Style” became the first video to hit two billion views.

Psy’s success turned him into an ambassador for everything, including Korean tourism (read more about viral videos in “The Rise of Destination Marketing Through Movies and TV”), but he wasn’t the biggest travel success on YouTube this month.

According to the 2,000 brands that SkiftIQ tracks, 42 more brands published videos this month, up from 348 in April. The total number of videos increased from 2,221 to 2,626 in May.

Similar to last month’s findings, the destinations sector produced the most videos industry-wide, while airlines came in second with 278 more videos, totaling to 672. Surprisingly, airports — not airlines nor destinations — reported the highest average approval rating in May. Schiphol Amsterdam Airport published over 20 videos that averaged 2,700 views each.

The More, the Merrier

Turkish Airlines had 13 Euroleague basketball players in a backyard hanging out at a barbecue pool party and contributing to one epic dunk. (Ironic, considering the Turkish government’s recent ban of YouTube.) KLM collaborated with Heineken and DJ Armin Van Buren to surprise ten lucky New Yorkers with a trip to Amsterdam to celebrate the biggest Dutch street festival of the year.

Learn More on SkiftIQ

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hJW5_iZNdFY

Campaigns That Dare

For Airbnb‘s second ad campaign it went global (and avoided infringing on rivals’  trademarks) to promote the idea of being open-minded. The dreamy narrative, collection of unusual homes set to inspiring indy rock music was an instant hit. What is beauty? South African Tourism asked its audience to reconsider what they think beauty is and to seek for its deeper meaning in their country.

Croatia Tourism encouraged their audience to share pictures that they love. Its 30-second montage of select images and videos tagged #LoveCroatia and #ShareCroatia was well received and became a promotion for more user generated content.

Celebrate Mothers

Mother’s Day in the U.S. is an important day of celebration — and for marketing, too. Walt Disney World Resorts created a video of a middle-aged mother enjoying her youth alongside her son frolicking from ride to ride. Cool moms rule!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN4gmJTHU8M

English Is Passe: Learn Spanish and Portuguese

Four airlines that pushed their brands on YouTube in their native language were received well and garnered the highest views and approval ratings. Beleza TAM Airlines (Brazil) and Azul (Brazil)! Goal Iberia Airlines (Spain) and Avianca (Colombia)!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h6vdlh6Df9U

http://youtube.com/watch?v=75MhMYU0dwY

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sJpVIpEw2GI

Learn More on SkiftIQ