Top Four Influencers of Travel and Technology on Twitter

Today is #traveltuesday. For those of you taking full advantage of this marvelous trending hashtag, you're in luck! Or, for those who will be or may be be beginning to dive into the research of planning a trip, this stll applies to you. When you are out exploring a new, exotic destination it can be cumbersome to sort through which travel recommendations to take to heart. It is overwhelming enough to search the hashtag #traveltuesday and see some results and see within seconds the top of the page displaying that it needs to refresh to show the 50+ new results. I have spent time combing through Twitter looking for who the leaders are of Travel and Technology to help you better figure out which Twitter accounts to be sure you start following when you're on the move. To rate these I looked at the content tweeted, whether or not the account was verified, the Klout score (an actual measure of influence on social media), and number of followers. Here are my findings:

1. Bringing in first place is @TravlandLeisure or Travel + Leisure. They have a Klout score of 89, and the highest percentage of Twitter influence as 43.2% of their Klout. They have 542,049 followers that they've engaged with their 11,819 tweets. In the past few months they've tweeted enticing travel and technology articles about recent news with the FAA easing restrictions on electronic devices, answering questions about whether airline prices fluctuates based on the amount of searching, new technology such as the idea of a solar train with capabilities of going up to 700 mph, as well as discuss top apps for scoring last-minute hotel deals.


2. A close second is @lonelyplanet or Lonely Planet. Their Klout score was a 95, with 38.3% of that being from twitter. @lonelyplanet has 1,264,592 follwers with 25,123 total tweets. I really liked their technology viewpoint in their article they tweeted about most wanted travel gadgets. I noticed that readers frequently re-tweet and actively respond. Actively captivating their audience made them a very close contender for first.


3. The next most influential twitter account is easily @TripAdvisor or TripAdvisor. They had a Klout score of 85, with 41.7% of that being from Twitter. They have 990,435 followers with only 9,241 tweets. Their mantra is "Helping travelers plan and have the perfect trip." This creates interaction in where they give out not very well known traveler tips, have interactive photo contests for travelling with pets, as well as do a very good job of linking to their website, app, and Facebook page.


4. Last, but certainly not least of the most influential Twitter accounts is @CNTraveler or Condé Nast Traveler. Their Klout was a 90 and of that 40.7% was from its Twitter interactions. They have 388,688 followers for their 8,461 tweets. Their recent tweets have been consistent with keeping the traveler up to date on the government shut down in addition to its impact to national park services. Their technology perspective on travel was appealing as they tweeted how the iPhone's iOS7 would make you better traveler. It also had very unique tweets such as "Would you stay in an ice hotel?" Definitely not something most of us consider on the regular.