Ninety-two percent of destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are maintaining or increasing their Influencer Marketing budgets in 2026. This is according to a survey of 200 DMO and convention and visitors bureau (CVB) professionals by travel martech company Steller, which found broad confidence in the channel alongside a persistent gap between what marketers can measure and what stakeholders want to see.
The survey, published in Steller’s “2026 State of Travel Influencer Marketing Report,” found that 48% of respondents increased their influencer budgets this cycle, 44% held spending steady, and just 7% reported a decrease. More than half of the survey participants held senior leadership or executive roles. Annual influencer budgets across respondents ranged from hundreds of thousands to several million dollars.
The findings reflect broader sector momentum: Influencer Marketing is growing at a rate four times that of all other paid media spending, according to the report.
Attribution Remains the Industry’s Dominant Challenge
Despite the budget increases, 76% of destination marketers identified “tracking attribution and impact” as their single greatest challenge, the top-ranked difficulty in the survey.
The gap between what marketing teams can demonstrate and what organizational stakeholders expect is significant. While 84% of marketers track engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and saves, 65% of stakeholders prioritize economic impact data, including planned trips, travel bookings, and broader economic contributions. Only 12% of DMOs reported successfully tracking hotel bookings originating from social media campaigns.
Seventy-five percent of respondents view Influencer Marketing as a critical channel for reaching target audiences over the next three years.
Engagement Displaces Impressions as the Primary KPI
A measurable shift in how DMOs evaluate campaign performance is underway. The survey found that 84% of marketers now list engagement as their top key performance indicator, nearly triple the 28% who prioritize impressions or cost-per-thousand (CPM).
Reach ranked second among tracked metrics at 44%, followed by website visits at 52% and content or video views at 40%. Hotel bookings ranked last at 12%, while trips planned registered at just 8%.
One survey respondent described the shift in terms of audience quality over scale: “We’re shifting to focus more on engagement rather than just follower counts. We want to work with influencers who reach an audience that is genuinely interested in learning about our destination and is more likely to travel here.”
The move toward engagement metrics is also influencing the selection of creators. The report notes that DMOs are increasingly prioritizing influencers who demonstrate consistent audience resonance over those with the highest follower counts.
Finding and Vetting Creators Is a Secondary Operational Burden
The emphasis on engagement-driven selection has introduced operational costs. Fifty-six percent of respondents cited “finding and vetting influencers” as one of their top challenges, ranking it second behind attribution. Forty-four percent identified knowing what to pay influencers as an additional difficulty.
Many DMOs have responded by bringing influencer discovery and management in-house, creating manual workflows that span discovery, outreach, negotiation, and contracting.
Influencer Content Is Underutilized Beyond Social Channels
The survey identified a widespread pattern of content underutilization. Thirty-two percent of DMOs reported not using influencer content on any channel other than social media.
Among those who extend content beyond social, the rates remain limited: 40% repurpose influencer content in paid advertising, 28% use it in email marketing, and 12% deploy it in trip-planning tools. Zero percent of respondents reported using influencer content in connected TV (CTV) campaigns.
The report attributes the underutilization, in part, to restrictive contracts. Many agencies that manage influencer relationships on a percentage-of-spend basis do not negotiate full usage rights, leaving DMOs without the legal clearance to redeploy content across other channels.
One respondent noted the business case for broader rights: “As we move to working with more local creators, the new audience reach is important. We also only work with creators that can give us full rights assets to use in other ways (ads, website, etc).”
AI Search Is Reshaping How DMOs Approach Social Content
Seventy percent of destination marketers in the survey agreed that social media has become more important for their organization as website traffic declines due to AI-generated search summaries. The report cites an industry-wide average of 30% in organic traffic losses across sectors, alongside data showing that 60% of searches now end without a click.
Forty-two percent of DMOs reported actively developing a strategy to adapt to reduced organic search referrals.
The report recommends optimizing influencer content for search discoverability through SEO-focused captions, geotags, text overlays, and voiceovers as one practical response.
Instagram ranked as the most important social channel for DMO budgets. Facebook and YouTube placed second and third, respectively, while TikTok ranked fourth.
The report attributes TikTok’s position partly to government restrictions that prevent some tourism boards from fully committing budget to the platform. The report notes that “time will tell” whether TikTok’s status changes following the divestiture of TikTok’s U.S. operations to American investors.
Family and Adventure Travelers Are the Top Target Segments
DMOs with increased budgets are concentrating spend on family travelers, adventure travelers, and outdoor enthusiasts. The report identified family travelers as the top target segment for 2026, noting that multi-generational travel groups tend to book multiple rooms, stay longer, and spend nearly twice as much as solo travelers. Adventure and outdoor enthusiasts ranked second at 84%, followed by experiential travelers at 56%.
Image source: Steller The full report is available here
Nii A. Ahene is the founder and managing director of Net Influencer, a website dedicated to offering insights into the influencer marketing industry. Together with its newsletter, Influencer Weekly, Net Influencer provides news, commentary, and analysis of the events shaping the creator and influencer marketing space. Through interviews with startups, influencers, brands, and platforms, Nii and his team explore how influencer marketing is being effectively used to benefit businesses and personal brands alike.
Ninety-two percent of destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are maintaining or increasing their Influencer Marketing budgets in 2026. This is according to a survey of 200 DMO and convention and visitors bureau (CVB) professionals by travel martech company Steller, which found broad confidence in the channel alongside a persistent gap between what marketers can measure and what stakeholders want to see.
The survey, published in Steller’s “2026 State of Travel Influencer Marketing Report,” found that 48% of respondents increased their influencer budgets this cycle, 44% held spending steady, and just 7% reported a decrease. More than half of the survey participants held senior leadership or executive roles. Annual influencer budgets across respondents ranged from hundreds of thousands to several million dollars.
The findings reflect broader sector momentum: Influencer Marketing is growing at a rate four times that of all other paid media spending, according to the report.
Attribution Remains the Industry’s Dominant Challenge
Despite the budget increases, 76% of destination marketers identified “tracking attribution and impact” as their single greatest challenge, the top-ranked difficulty in the survey.
The gap between what marketing teams can demonstrate and what organizational stakeholders expect is significant. While 84% of marketers track engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and saves, 65% of stakeholders prioritize economic impact data, including planned trips, travel bookings, and broader economic contributions. Only 12% of DMOs reported successfully tracking hotel bookings originating from social media campaigns.
Seventy-five percent of respondents view Influencer Marketing as a critical channel for reaching target audiences over the next three years.
Engagement Displaces Impressions as the Primary KPI
A measurable shift in how DMOs evaluate campaign performance is underway. The survey found that 84% of marketers now list engagement as their top key performance indicator, nearly triple the 28% who prioritize impressions or cost-per-thousand (CPM).
Reach ranked second among tracked metrics at 44%, followed by website visits at 52% and content or video views at 40%. Hotel bookings ranked last at 12%, while trips planned registered at just 8%.
One survey respondent described the shift in terms of audience quality over scale: “We’re shifting to focus more on engagement rather than just follower counts. We want to work with influencers who reach an audience that is genuinely interested in learning about our destination and is more likely to travel here.”
The move toward engagement metrics is also influencing the selection of creators. The report notes that DMOs are increasingly prioritizing influencers who demonstrate consistent audience resonance over those with the highest follower counts.
Finding and Vetting Creators Is a Secondary Operational Burden
The emphasis on engagement-driven selection has introduced operational costs. Fifty-six percent of respondents cited “finding and vetting influencers” as one of their top challenges, ranking it second behind attribution. Forty-four percent identified knowing what to pay influencers as an additional difficulty.
Many DMOs have responded by bringing influencer discovery and management in-house, creating manual workflows that span discovery, outreach, negotiation, and contracting.
Influencer Content Is Underutilized Beyond Social Channels
The survey identified a widespread pattern of content underutilization. Thirty-two percent of DMOs reported not using influencer content on any channel other than social media.
Among those who extend content beyond social, the rates remain limited: 40% repurpose influencer content in paid advertising, 28% use it in email marketing, and 12% deploy it in trip-planning tools. Zero percent of respondents reported using influencer content in connected TV (CTV) campaigns.
The report attributes the underutilization, in part, to restrictive contracts. Many agencies that manage influencer relationships on a percentage-of-spend basis do not negotiate full usage rights, leaving DMOs without the legal clearance to redeploy content across other channels.
One respondent noted the business case for broader rights: “As we move to working with more local creators, the new audience reach is important. We also only work with creators that can give us full rights assets to use in other ways (ads, website, etc).”
AI Search Is Reshaping How DMOs Approach Social Content
Seventy percent of destination marketers in the survey agreed that social media has become more important for their organization as website traffic declines due to AI-generated search summaries. The report cites an industry-wide average of 30% in organic traffic losses across sectors, alongside data showing that 60% of searches now end without a click.
Forty-two percent of DMOs reported actively developing a strategy to adapt to reduced organic search referrals.
The report recommends optimizing influencer content for search discoverability through SEO-focused captions, geotags, text overlays, and voiceovers as one practical response.
Instagram Leads Platform Allocation; TikTok Trails Larger Rivals
Instagram ranked as the most important social channel for DMO budgets. Facebook and YouTube placed second and third, respectively, while TikTok ranked fourth.
The report attributes TikTok’s position partly to government restrictions that prevent some tourism boards from fully committing budget to the platform. The report notes that “time will tell” whether TikTok’s status changes following the divestiture of TikTok’s U.S. operations to American investors.
Family and Adventure Travelers Are the Top Target Segments
DMOs with increased budgets are concentrating spend on family travelers, adventure travelers, and outdoor enthusiasts. The report identified family travelers as the top target segment for 2026, noting that multi-generational travel groups tend to book multiple rooms, stay longer, and spend nearly twice as much as solo travelers. Adventure and outdoor enthusiasts ranked second at 84%, followed by experiential travelers at 56%.
Image source: Steller
The full report is available here
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