Part of the transcript from a #tourismchat on Twitter about Instagram for destination marketing, featuring guest host Caitlin Rick from Minnesota tourism.

We are often asked by destinations, attractions, and hotels about how to use Twitter for tourism and destination marketing, including how to find travelers and prospective visitors on Twitter.

One of the simplest ways to do that is by participating in (and in some cases, paying to sponsor) travel and tourism Twitter chats.

What is a Twitter Chat?

A Twitter chat is usually a set time frame (normally one hour, sometimes less) when people gather on Twitter for a live discussion around a particular topic. They can be regularly scheduled, or one-off events.

Each tweet includes the chat hashtag, so if you do a search on that hashtag, all related tweets can be grouped together and you can follow the conversation.

It’s a focused, fast-paced way to make connections and build relationships with other chat participants, learn valuable information, pick up a few followers, and get more visibility for your Twitter account.

If you pay to sponsor a Twitter chat, the chat host should provide as much data as possible afterwards about the engagement rates and possible reach of the chat, plus do before-during-after promotion of your brand across their social media channels and email list.

Why wouldn’t a tourism organization or tourism partner want to get in front of social-savvy travel enthusiasts?

Here is our current list of travel and tourism Twitter chats …. if we missed one, please drop us an email at Admin at tourismcurrents dot com.

We prefer to list non-commercial chats that are not hosted by a travel brand (like #ExpediaChat, for example, run by Expedia.com.) Additions to this list are at our discretion.

Update December 2020  –  One of the very first general chats was #blogchat, which ran for years and was a blogger favorite. The founder, Mack Collier, finally shut it down, but now there’s a new version, #ContentCircus chat for all kinds of content creators. It’s every Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central.

Update April 2021 – Mack says he needs to put #ContentCircus on hiatus. Hope he brings it back!

First, a chat just for tourism professionals

Note: #tourismchat is currently on hiatus. 

At Tourism Currents, we are proud to be part of the organizing team for #tourismchat, a Twitter chat about destination marketing that was originally started in February 2010 by tourism pros Anne Hornyak Swoboda and Betsy Decillis.

The chat is monthly, with a variety of topics and often a guest host who is an industry expert. It’s an excellent opportunity for professional development.

(Update April 2019 – we’ve also experimented with running the chat as a Facebook Live event, which has been very successful – here are the recorded chat videos so far.)

For more info  —  the #tourismchat Facebook Page.

General travel Twitter chats

**  The #TRLT (The Road Less Travelled – overlooked destinations and experiences) chat  –  every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. More about The Road Less Travelled chat. Follow host Shane Dallas, the @TheTravelCamel.

**  The #TTOT (Travel Talk on Twitter) chat  –  every Tuesday, twice a day at 9:30 a.m. and again at 9:30 p.m. GMT. More about the Travel Talk on Twitter chat. You can also use the #TTOT hashtag during the rest of the week, for travel-related tweets.

**  The #PTTravel (Part-Time Travel for regular people with full-time responsibilities, jobs, etc. but enjoy traveling when they can) chat – every Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. GMT. UK-based but anyone can join in. More about the #PTTravel chat.

Niche travel Twitter chats

**  The #MWTravelChat (U.S. Midwestern states) chat  –  first Wednesday of every month, 12 noon Eastern. More about the Midwest Travel chat.

** The #SmallTownTourismChat (small towns and rural areas) – usually on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. Follow chat host @UnionGapWA

**  The #CultureTrav (Cultural Travelers) chat  –  every Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. More about #CultureTrav chat.

**  The #FoodTravelChat (food and travel) chat  –  every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Follow @FoodTravelChat

**  The #LuxChat (for luxury travel)  –  every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. Follow @LuxTravelChat

**  The #RoadTripChat (about road trips) – every Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern. Follow @SouthernerSays

**  The #ScotlandHour chat to promote travel to Scotland – the last Wednesday of the month at 9 p.m. GMT. Learn more here about #ScotlandHour and follow @ScotlandHour

At Tourism Currents, we help you and your tourism partners learn how to use social media and digital destination marketing to bring more visitors to town. Pick what works for you: our self-paced online course in social media for tourism, our coaching/consulting services, or our speaking and workshop services.