5 Travel Brands Winning on Social Media for the Week Ending June 20, 2014

Social activity of travel brands this week was weighted heavily on Instagram and Twitter.

Each Friday we call out travel brands that have seen stronger than usual activity on social media. Using SkiftIQ, we’re able to track current performance versus past (60-day averages, unless otherwise noted) as well as notice spikes in activity that demonstrate a brand has either a viral hit on its hands, or a public relations mess to clean up.

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The latest social activity on SkiftIQ for the week ending June 20, 2014:

1. Qantas Airways on Instagram

It’s winter in Australia and summer in America. Last Sunday, this airline shared a photo from Zimmerman –a posh Aussie swimwear company — of a spectacular bird’s eye view of Manhattan, aboard its aircraft. A few days later, it shared an Instagram video of Australian actor Hugh Sheridan singing to celebrate its new business lounge at LAX. These two photos led up to Qantas announcing its Luxury USA Sale with a shot of Times Square in NYC. This content shot its Instagram Followers up 470% from its 68.9 Followers/Day average.

2. Southwest Airlines on Twitter

Delays and cancellations are common gripes of travelers. This week, Southwest Airlines resurfaced again on our social activity radar because it tweeted 350% more from 6/17 to 6/19, above its average volume of 41 Tweets/Day (up from 35 Tweet/Day last week), signaling summer air travel. Although its customers’ replies all don’t mention the city they are in, we found a few complaints in Fort Myers, FL.

3. Tourism and Events Queensland on Twitter

What a busy Wednesday for this tourism board. They had a slew of quoted retweets that shared Instagram photos from its fans and announced a new YouTube video that featured five American perspectives on its region, as well as a live chat on Google+, that took place today. It tweeted 250 times more than its average of 25 Tweets/Day.

4. AirAsia on Twitter On its website, travelers can change their itineraries through “Manage My Booking.” Apparently, they are getting more complaints because it doesn’t accept changes made less than 48 hours, which is not very useful for last minute changes. Its status updates doubled on 6/17 and 6/18 from its 27 Tweet/Day average.

5. Airbnb on Instagram

Last week, Airbnb made it into our top five, and it returns again. Its Followers grew at the same rate from 6/15-6/18 at 1,500, raising their 549 Followers/Day average last week to 724 Followers/Day with a Father’s Day, Positano, Italy and #TreehouseTuesday photos. Yesterday, they featured a Parisian property with luxury accoutrements via a Facebook album that generated 3,220 Likes vs. their 2,060 Likes/day average.

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