Why Pinterest Is Likely the Web’s Most Popular Trip-Planning Site

We knew that travelers and travel companies have taken to Pinterest, but to the tune of 660 million pins?

Yes, in its trademark lawsuit against flight search startup Pintrips, Pinterest reveals that there are 660 million pins in its travel category.

When you consider that Pinterest launched in March 2010, then that works out to more than 46,150 travel pins per day on average.

It’s enough to make travel startups angling for the “Pinterest of travel” position to just give up.

Asked how the travel category measures up against other categories on Pinterest, a spokesperson says: “We actually haven’t broken out other categories in the same way yet. Travel is clearly very popular, though.”

However, fashion, food and travel are likely to be leading categories on Pinterest.

In the lawsuit, Pinterest notes that airlines are actively promoting themselves on Pinterest, and these include American Airlines, Southwest, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Air New Zealand, and Cathay Pacific.

Hotel, resort, and vacation rental companies, including Four Seasons, Hilton, Omni, Airbnb, and Ritz-Carlton are also active on Pinterest, the company says.

Pinterest also notes that “travel planning companies and travel media outlets,” including Travel+Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, BBC Travel, Travel Channel and Lonely Planet, “likewise promote themselves on Pinterest.”

Pinterest considers itself a travel planning site, stating in the suit that “many people use Pinterest as a travel-planning tool — for example, to collect inspiration for upcoming trips …”

Whether people are planning trips using Pinterest or just gawking and having fun, those pins are really adding up.

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