👋 Hey !

We’re getting excited with only a couple weeks until launch.

The response to our first newsletter was amazing. Thanks to all of you who responded, we love the enthusiasm and got some great questions.

The most common question was, why don’t people book travel through Instagram (or other social platforms) today? See the “How to Sell Travel” section below for some great research from Expedia that explores this.

That’s why we’re building Talewind, to help you sell travel, and your profile is the key. So today we’re also previewing Talewind profiles in the Product Update section. Check out the demo and let us know what you think, we would love to hear from you!

Matt Stevens

Talewind Co-Founder & CEO

[email protected] (Have questions? Send me an email!)

In today’s newsletter

1. Product Updates: Talewind creator profiles - your own travel booking engine

2. How to Sell Travel: Why social channels don’t convert travel bookings

3. In the News: Top stories for travel creators

4. Events: What’s on your calendar?

5. Fun Stuff: This week’s quote, and your trivia answer

🤔 Trivia Question

Which country has the most time zones in the world?

_{(it’s probably not what you’re thinking…)}

Why don’t social channels convert travel bookings?

Expedia surveyed over 75,000 travelers, and their findings were shocking.

While 77% of travelers now use social media for inspiration, less than 1% actually book through social platforms!

Why such a big drop-off?

First, it’s important to understand the full traveler journey, which is made up of four distinct phases:

1. Inspiration - When travelers first start thinking about a trip, considering lots of ideas from a variety of sources.

2. Research - With some ideas in mind, travelers actively research their shortlist of options and pick where to go.

3. Planning - After deciding on the destination, they do more in-depth research and plan the details of their trip.

4. Booking - The final step, when travelers make a purchase.

The whole journey from inspiration to booking takes an average of 71 days! And the biggest drop in social media use is between the Research and Planning stages.

Travelers use social media to get ideas and decide where to go. But once that decision is made, they use other platforms for more detailed planning and booking. They use big online travel agencies to compare hotel and activity options, review travel blogs for more detailed information and recommendations, and use (typically) Google Maps to see more photos, read reviews, and understand logistics.

Social platforms aren’t built to provide this much detailed information, so travelers go elsewhere.

Talewind solves this problem by integrating discovery, logistics, and booking into one platform, supporting all stages of the traveler purchase journey.

In other words, we aggregate all the information travelers need to make booking decisions in one place, connected to your content so you can make money off every booking.

Perplexity Can Now Book Hotels

The Story:

Perplexity has become the first major AI search engine to enable direct hotel booking within its platform, marking a significant move toward making AI a more functional travel assistant.

The Details:

• Unlike competitors like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, Perplexity now allows users to book hotels without leaving the platform, through a partnership with Selfbook and Tripadvisor.

• The feature covers about 140,000 hotels in Selfbook’s inventory and uses Tripadvisor data for reviews and hotel info.

• Users can search for hotels in natural language, view listings with a map, and book directly using payment options like Google Pay or credit card.

Why It Matters:

With more AI-powered booking tools in the market, travelers will become more comfortable booking travel with AI. Talewind will provide the same functionality, but for the benefit of creators like you.

Read the full article on Skift

TikTok Deadline Extended

The Story:

President Trump has extended the enforcement deadline of the TikTok ban by 75 days after new China tariffs disrupted a nearly finalized deal to transfer U.S. operations to American ownership.

The Details:

• A deal involving U.S. investors and TikTok parent company ByteDance was nearly finalized but stalled after Trump announced a 34% tariff on China, prompting China to pause participation.

• The proposed deal would allow ByteDance to retain up to 20% of TikTok's U.S. spinoff, with strict conditions on data and algorithm separation.

• The enforcement delay, announced just before the ban deadline, allows TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users continued access for now.

Why It Matters:

This is good news for creators in general, but we want to hear from you - is TikTok an important channel for you? If so, we will prioritize TikTok profile integration in our roadmap.

Read the full article on CNN

Travel Creators Drive Conversion (duh)

The Story:

Travel creators play a powerful role in influencing trip decisions, particularly among social media users who make travel purchases based on online content, according to Phocuswright’s research report The Creator Effect: Harnessing the Power of Collaboration in Travel

The Details:

• 67% of followers find travel creators helpful for trip advice, just behind online travel agencies (70%) and friends / family (72%).

• Brand partnerships / collaborations impacted 43% of converters, compared to 34% for organic content, showing the potential strength of influencer collaborations.

• However, 49% of followers say excessive ads or brand deals reduce their trust in creators, suggesting a need for balanced, authentic content.

Why It Matters:

What’s most interesting here is that brand partnership content is better at converting bookings than organic content. This means two things for Talewind: 1) There’s lots of potential to improve conversion rates for organic content, and 2) brand partnerships will be an important part of the platform in the future.

Read the full article on Phocuswire

*I’ll be there! Send me an email at [email protected] if you want to meet up.

Missing an event? Let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

📣 Quote of the Week

🙋‍♂️ Trivia Answer

Q: Which country has the most time zones in the world?

France!

Including its overseas territories spread across the globe, France is #1 with 13 time zones. The United States and Russia are tied for second place, with 11.