Richmond tourism spends up to $40K a year on influencers
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Richmond Region Tourism spends an average of $30,000 to $40,000 a year on social media influencers, the tourism agency tells Axios.
Why it matters: Influencers have become part of the hotel-tax-funded effort to draw visitors to the region — as social media increasingly shapes where people vacation.
By the numbers: 61% of travelers surveyed said they find trip ideas on social media, while 73% said influencer content has led to bookings, per industry research.
Zoom in: That's why Richmond Region Tourism has been working with content creators since 2022, RRT spokesperson Carla Murray tells Axios.
- RRT selects influencers based on whether their "audience, perspective and content align with the Richmond Region's brand and travel messaging—not simply the size of their following," Murray says.
- The tourism board, which is largely funded through local hotel taxes, typically covers creators' travel, hotel and meals.
- In exchange, the influencers produce social media reels, stories, posts, blogs, photos or videos promoting the region.
- And just one of those reels can cost big bucks.
By the numbers: A 15-90 second reel runs between $1,000 and $7,500 "for a small to mid-level influencer (up to about 500k followers)," Murray says.
- RRT generally caps its spending at $5,000 for up to two reels, plus other content options
The intrigue: Richmond landed the world's largest trade conference of travel influencers in June.
- Rather than paying individual influencers, RRT spent just over $200,000 to cover conference costs including travel, speakers, hotels and tours, using money from the region's new 2% hotel fee.
- RRT estimates the Instagram and TikTok content attendees produced here was worth more than $1.2 million.
Zoom out: Richmond's influencer spending is small compared with some competing destinations.
- Virginia Beach's tourism bureau budgeted $380,000 for travel influencers this year, according to the Virginian-Pilot.
- And Michigan's travel board spent $500,000 over three years for content creators to tout the Great Lakes State, per Detroit News.