New technologies and marketing tools change tourism strategies. The consolidated role of travel agencies and tour operators is joined by a new figure: that of "travel influencers", those who methodically publish the contents of their travels on social media such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube channels, while younger people prefer Tik Tok and, to a lesser extent, Twitch.

The topic is increasingly at the center of university studies on tourism and has recently been addressed by Maria Grazia Verderame, born in Ozieri, degree in Communication Sciences in Cagliari , who has calculated that the travel sector - in this case the data is of 2019 but does not affect its validity - it had an average of 35,000 followers for each influencer.

For too many years, the island has been trying to seasonally adjust tourism, which is too tied to the image of the sea which forces activity in a few months. Given the importance of social media, the first observation is that the "official" Bodies, the ones that should attract tourists, have a low number of followers. We are faced with pages that are not updated and with little attractiveness.

Even the profile of the Park Authority of La Maddalena, despite being taken care of in the smallest details, is deficient: “The page, which has been active for seven years, is followed by only 2,335 followers and has a total of 280 uploaded contents”.

Many flaws also on the site of the Tourism Department, present on Instagram with the name Visit Sardinia. At the time of writing the thesis, Verderame noted that no content had been published for over 180 days; that is to say, a slow-moving promotion.

The statistical analysis is based on a program, www.followerstat.it, which makes us enter the world of influencers, tireless travelers, witnesses of places, foods and feelings. And above all with an important following.

The thesis indicates the most followed influencers who have become collaborators of a national tour operator; there are those who are entitled to have traveled around half the world on foot and those who love only one territory. Then the local influencers and, to clarify, here too we are faced with contents that largely concern the sea and dream beaches.

It is crucial - according to Verderame - to center the target in order to identify the characteristics of the tourist product. The outdoor holiday is very popular with foreigners and the Germans are the first for reviews posted, while the Poles are in first place for level of satisfaction. The thesis ends with the need to build a tourism offer strategy, perhaps implementing planning through social media and promoting not only the beauties of the island but also the benefits of the climate that can allow those who live in cold countries to come on the island even in the middle of winter.

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