The US TikTok Ban: What Does It Mean for Destination Marketing
The potential US TikTok ban, effective by 19th January, could disrupt tourism marketing, creating challenges for some and new opportunities for others.
The potential US TikTok ban, effective by 19th January, could disrupt tourism marketing, creating challenges for some and new opportunities for others.
The TikTok ban, in the United States, could become effective as early as 19th January - unless the Supreme Court overturns the federal law supporting the ban or the platform’s parent company, ByteDance, decides to sell it. But what does this mean for the tourism industry and Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs)? Could this suggest a setback for some, while presenting new opportunities for others? Might this pave the way for other countries to follow suit with their own bans?
Since its launch in September 2016, TikTok has attracted about 160 million users in America, making it the platform's largest market, followed by Indonesia with 157.6 million. The loss of its primary audience will be a significant detriment to the platform's prominence, but with a growing and active presence in emerging markets, such as Asia and Latin America, there is a strong argument that TikTok will remain a vital channel for non-American destinations to achieve their long-term growth ambitions. This may, however, require a new approach to measuring success on the platform, rethinking how DMOs consider the return on investment when conversion requires sustained engagement.
As a sign of its continued growth, TikTok has consistently had more app downloads than Instagram and Facebook. This raises the question of why the app is so popular and what is attracting so many users around the world. The reality is that TikTok has proved its popularity for a couple of reasons. The platform speaks to the fact that attention spans have significantly shortened, especially among Generation Z and Generation Alpha. They are no longer investing their time in watching videos that are several minutes to an hour long, but rather, require shorter and more concise content that delivers the exact information needed within 30 to 60 seconds. TikTok is also known for its special effects, allowing users to engage with different types of videos.
With an algorithm designed to prioritise content discovery, TikTok is a powerful platform for DMOs looking to expand their reach. Unlike Instagram, where content is initially shown to followers, TikTok immediately displays videos on the "For You Page" to a wide audience, increasing the chance of content going viral and being seen by audiences in a timely manner. This means that even if a DMO has a small following, its content has the potential to reach a large audience. Showcasing personalised content increases the likelihood of a DMO reaching its target audience, as users who have shown interest in travel content are more likely to see relevant videos. While this approach brings significant benefits for elevating inspiration, it also requires a TikTok-first approach to content creation due to the platform's different format compared to other social channels. With this in mind, should DMOs outside the US continue to invest in the platform?
TikTok has become a powerful tool for digital marketing, and companies in all industries are capitalising on the consumers who enjoy the app and its variety of content. According to a survey by Adobe in 2024, 54% of business owners have used TikTok for promotion by posting as much as nine times per month. Some businesses are even engaging in influencer marketing. According to the survey, one in four small business owners have used TikTok influencers to promote their products, while allocating 15% of their marketing budget for content on the platform, with 53% planning to increase this percentage by boosting their investment in TikTok affiliate marketing in 2025.
Considering the investment companies are putting into TikTok, it is hard to ignore the impact the platform has on the way travellers search for and engage with content. Statistics suggest that 64% of Generation Z use the platform as a search engine, with one in ten more likely to rely on TikTok than Google. Yet, even across all demographics, two in five Americans have used TikTok as a search engine; higher than the respective figures for ChatGPT and other social channels, such as X and Facebook. This just goes to show how influential the platform has become and opens up the question as to whether new channels such as RedNote, Flip, Clapper and Lemon8 will be able to replicate the success of TikTok. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains around some of these emerging platforms. With Lemon8 - also owned by ByteDance - and RedNote both having Chinese ownership, uncertainty will remain around whether these platforms will eventually also be banned in the US or if the incoming Trump administration's new relaxed stance on TikTok will provide a saving grace.
In a 2023 report, TikTok claims that since 2021 they have seen a 410% increase in views of travel content. The use of TikTok can be seen in the consideration and action phases of the travel journey, with 71% of European users finding recommendations about booking a holiday and 82% of UK users saying they have been inspired to consider a destination. While the concept ideas for travel content are limitless, bucket list inspirations, travel vlogs and voiceovers for travel diaries have proven to reach a vast majority of audiences by influencing them to dream about a destination. Statistics suggest that 80% of users agree that TikTok is a platform where travel brands are able to build stronger connections with their target market due to the authentic style, engaging creators and popular content formats. A deeper dive into TikTok content consumption suggests that 34% find the storytelling aspect of the channel's content very appealing, with 20% of what consumers search for being travel destinations and experiences.
Travel content on TikTok falls under four categories:
This distinctive storytelling format allows DMOs to use this framework when producing short-form content on the platform to support their marketing campaigns.
As a platform, TikTok provokes the search for unique places to travel, which allows destinations to be playful and engage with cultural trends on social media. VisitDubai is a perfect example of how DMOs are tapping into trends to start a conversation, such as by participating in the popular trends of using clips from Squid Game season two and the "eating 12 grapes under the table on New Year's" tradition. They are engaging users with catchy titles about making Dubai your New Year’s wish when eating the grapes and how excited the destination feels for visitors to become residents, using a clip from Squid Game episode six in which two players are dancing on a spinning carousel to tap into the fanbase of this TV show.
VisitCalifornia is also using visually compelling content and captivating storytelling to appeal to audiences. For example, their video titled "Visit this Star Wars filming location!" tells the story of the location where the dunes in Death Valley represent Tatooine, a desert planet where R2-D2 and C-3PO crash-landed in the film Star Wars: A New Hope. VisitCalifornia also uses TikTok TopView, a high-impact ad format, in combination with their unique creative idea to show travellers that the state is the ultimate playground.
With their "#ineedswitzerland" hashtag, Switzerland Tourism was able to reach 700,000 likes across all their posts and 35.5 million hashtag mentions, with many videos going viral without any investment. They also had an average of 20% engagement rates on their TopView campaigns, which were ads showcasing a three-way split screen of dramatic scenery and nature. Switzerland Tourism ran three seasons of their TopView campaigns, outlining tips for the summer experience, summer in the city and an ad themed around the autumn season. The Head of Social Media for Switzerland Tourism highlights how the platform has enabled engagement with target markets and raise awareness about the country, making TikTok an important channel for their marketing efforts.
With TikTok's recent announcement of the introduction of Travel Ads, a dedicated e-commerce product for travel brands, new opportunities are emerging for this channel to become even more important in driving conversion. This strategic move signifies TikTok's growing recognition of the travel industry's potential and its ambition to become a dominant force in travel marketing. This targeted approach is expected to enable travel brands to leverage the platform's unique algorithm and creative tools to reach potential customers with highly relevant and engaging travel-related content. This is helping to provide a business case for travel brands to remain on the platform and not rush to leave following the US TikTok ban.
Overall, TikTok has proven to be a useful channel for DMOs to boost audience engagement. The ban implies that American DMOs will lose a valuable channel, which has become a central element of their marketing strategies. However, there is a strong potential for influencer partnerships to become more prominent. This would enable US destinations to remain visible on TikTok while concentrating on the performance of other channels that they manage directly. This approach will result in social media management shifting from a primary focus on organic views to a more nuanced approach that positions paid content more strongly in content creation, resulting in highly targeted promotional strategies based on specific themes and niches.
It is also important to consider TikTok’s significance as a search engine and how the ban will not only impact US destinations' ability to promote themselves, but could also limit American tourists in planning international trips. Therefore, this implies that at a global scale, DMOs will lose a channel that is reaching and inspiring American tourists. Nevertheless, the impact will not be immediate. Following a similar approach to the way TikTok was banned in India in 2020, those who have already downloaded TikTok onto their phones will still have access to the platform. Over time though, the platform will be depreciated in the US, with new updates and features being unavailable, weakened cybersecurity and slower and more glitchy interfaces. While virtual private networks may also present a backdoor for Americans to continue to engage with the platform, this is not likely to result in positive user experiences due to this technique not being optimised for smartphones; the main device used for accessing TikTok.
On the other hand, the US TikTok ban presents an opportunity for DMOs in the rest of the world to reconsider their social media strategies and decide how to respond, especially if other governments also consider a ban. This would help to prepare DMOs for change. Yet, a key question arises around whether there can be special exemptions for DMOs to remain active on the platform? While many countries have introduced a ban on TikTok for government employees, they’ve still been able to use the platform as a marketing channel by providing evidence of how valuable it is as a platform for attracting tourists and thereby making the case that the platform brings economic benefits.
The prospects of a ban are raising many questions and present challenges for DMOs and the wider tourism industry. Nonetheless, it is important to remain positive. While a difficult moment for social media teams, the US TikTok ban presents an optimal moment to reassess marketing strategies. With new features being added regularly and channels emerging, DMOs may even emerge from this crisis stronger. However, it's crucial that values and ethics are central components of strategic decisions.
The TikTok ban, in the United States, could become effective as early as 19th January - unless the Supreme Court overturns the federal law supporting the ban or the platform’s parent company, ByteDance, decides to sell it. But what does this mean for the tourism industry and Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs)? Could this suggest a setback for some, while presenting new opportunities for others? Might this pave the way for other countries to follow suit with their own bans?
Since its launch in September 2016, TikTok has attracted about 160 million users in America, making it the platform's largest market, followed by Indonesia with 157.6 million. The loss of its primary audience will be a significant detriment to the platform's prominence, but with a growing and active presence in emerging markets, such as Asia and Latin America, there is a strong argument that TikTok will remain a vital channel for non-American destinations to achieve their long-term growth ambitions. This may, however, require a new approach to measuring success on the platform, rethinking how DMOs consider the return on investment when conversion requires sustained engagement.
As a sign of its continued growth, TikTok has consistently had more app downloads than Instagram and Facebook. This raises the question of why the app is so popular and what is attracting so many users around the world. The reality is that TikTok has proved its popularity for a couple of reasons. The platform speaks to the fact that attention spans have significantly shortened, especially among Generation Z and Generation Alpha. They are no longer investing their time in watching videos that are several minutes to an hour long, but rather, require shorter and more concise content that delivers the exact information needed within 30 to 60 seconds. TikTok is also known for its special effects, allowing users to engage with different types of videos.
With an algorithm designed to prioritise content discovery, TikTok is a powerful platform for DMOs looking to expand their reach. Unlike Instagram, where content is initially shown to followers, TikTok immediately displays videos on the "For You Page" to a wide audience, increasing the chance of content going viral and being seen by audiences in a timely manner. This means that even if a DMO has a small following, its content has the potential to reach a large audience. Showcasing personalised content increases the likelihood of a DMO reaching its target audience, as users who have shown interest in travel content are more likely to see relevant videos. While this approach brings significant benefits for elevating inspiration, it also requires a TikTok-first approach to content creation due to the platform's different format compared to other social channels. With this in mind, should DMOs outside the US continue to invest in the platform?
TikTok has become a powerful tool for digital marketing, and companies in all industries are capitalising on the consumers who enjoy the app and its variety of content. According to a survey by Adobe in 2024, 54% of business owners have used TikTok for promotion by posting as much as nine times per month. Some businesses are even engaging in influencer marketing. According to the survey, one in four small business owners have used TikTok influencers to promote their products, while allocating 15% of their marketing budget for content on the platform, with 53% planning to increase this percentage by boosting their investment in TikTok affiliate marketing in 2025.
Considering the investment companies are putting into TikTok, it is hard to ignore the impact the platform has on the way travellers search for and engage with content. Statistics suggest that 64% of Generation Z use the platform as a search engine, with one in ten more likely to rely on TikTok than Google. Yet, even across all demographics, two in five Americans have used TikTok as a search engine; higher than the respective figures for ChatGPT and other social channels, such as X and Facebook. This just goes to show how influential the platform has become and opens up the question as to whether new channels such as RedNote, Flip, Clapper and Lemon8 will be able to replicate the success of TikTok. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains around some of these emerging platforms. With Lemon8 - also owned by ByteDance - and RedNote both having Chinese ownership, uncertainty will remain around whether these platforms will eventually also be banned in the US or if the incoming Trump administration's new relaxed stance on TikTok will provide a saving grace.
In a 2023 report, TikTok claims that since 2021 they have seen a 410% increase in views of travel content. The use of TikTok can be seen in the consideration and action phases of the travel journey, with 71% of European users finding recommendations about booking a holiday and 82% of UK users saying they have been inspired to consider a destination. While the concept ideas for travel content are limitless, bucket list inspirations, travel vlogs and voiceovers for travel diaries have proven to reach a vast majority of audiences by influencing them to dream about a destination. Statistics suggest that 80% of users agree that TikTok is a platform where travel brands are able to build stronger connections with their target market due to the authentic style, engaging creators and popular content formats. A deeper dive into TikTok content consumption suggests that 34% find the storytelling aspect of the channel's content very appealing, with 20% of what consumers search for being travel destinations and experiences.
Travel content on TikTok falls under four categories:
This distinctive storytelling format allows DMOs to use this framework when producing short-form content on the platform to support their marketing campaigns.
As a platform, TikTok provokes the search for unique places to travel, which allows destinations to be playful and engage with cultural trends on social media. VisitDubai is a perfect example of how DMOs are tapping into trends to start a conversation, such as by participating in the popular trends of using clips from Squid Game season two and the "eating 12 grapes under the table on New Year's" tradition. They are engaging users with catchy titles about making Dubai your New Year’s wish when eating the grapes and how excited the destination feels for visitors to become residents, using a clip from Squid Game episode six in which two players are dancing on a spinning carousel to tap into the fanbase of this TV show.
VisitCalifornia is also using visually compelling content and captivating storytelling to appeal to audiences. For example, their video titled "Visit this Star Wars filming location!" tells the story of the location where the dunes in Death Valley represent Tatooine, a desert planet where R2-D2 and C-3PO crash-landed in the film Star Wars: A New Hope. VisitCalifornia also uses TikTok TopView, a high-impact ad format, in combination with their unique creative idea to show travellers that the state is the ultimate playground.
With their "#ineedswitzerland" hashtag, Switzerland Tourism was able to reach 700,000 likes across all their posts and 35.5 million hashtag mentions, with many videos going viral without any investment. They also had an average of 20% engagement rates on their TopView campaigns, which were ads showcasing a three-way split screen of dramatic scenery and nature. Switzerland Tourism ran three seasons of their TopView campaigns, outlining tips for the summer experience, summer in the city and an ad themed around the autumn season. The Head of Social Media for Switzerland Tourism highlights how the platform has enabled engagement with target markets and raise awareness about the country, making TikTok an important channel for their marketing efforts.
With TikTok's recent announcement of the introduction of Travel Ads, a dedicated e-commerce product for travel brands, new opportunities are emerging for this channel to become even more important in driving conversion. This strategic move signifies TikTok's growing recognition of the travel industry's potential and its ambition to become a dominant force in travel marketing. This targeted approach is expected to enable travel brands to leverage the platform's unique algorithm and creative tools to reach potential customers with highly relevant and engaging travel-related content. This is helping to provide a business case for travel brands to remain on the platform and not rush to leave following the US TikTok ban.
Overall, TikTok has proven to be a useful channel for DMOs to boost audience engagement. The ban implies that American DMOs will lose a valuable channel, which has become a central element of their marketing strategies. However, there is a strong potential for influencer partnerships to become more prominent. This would enable US destinations to remain visible on TikTok while concentrating on the performance of other channels that they manage directly. This approach will result in social media management shifting from a primary focus on organic views to a more nuanced approach that positions paid content more strongly in content creation, resulting in highly targeted promotional strategies based on specific themes and niches.
It is also important to consider TikTok’s significance as a search engine and how the ban will not only impact US destinations' ability to promote themselves, but could also limit American tourists in planning international trips. Therefore, this implies that at a global scale, DMOs will lose a channel that is reaching and inspiring American tourists. Nevertheless, the impact will not be immediate. Following a similar approach to the way TikTok was banned in India in 2020, those who have already downloaded TikTok onto their phones will still have access to the platform. Over time though, the platform will be depreciated in the US, with new updates and features being unavailable, weakened cybersecurity and slower and more glitchy interfaces. While virtual private networks may also present a backdoor for Americans to continue to engage with the platform, this is not likely to result in positive user experiences due to this technique not being optimised for smartphones; the main device used for accessing TikTok.
On the other hand, the US TikTok ban presents an opportunity for DMOs in the rest of the world to reconsider their social media strategies and decide how to respond, especially if other governments also consider a ban. This would help to prepare DMOs for change. Yet, a key question arises around whether there can be special exemptions for DMOs to remain active on the platform? While many countries have introduced a ban on TikTok for government employees, they’ve still been able to use the platform as a marketing channel by providing evidence of how valuable it is as a platform for attracting tourists and thereby making the case that the platform brings economic benefits.
The prospects of a ban are raising many questions and present challenges for DMOs and the wider tourism industry. Nonetheless, it is important to remain positive. While a difficult moment for social media teams, the US TikTok ban presents an optimal moment to reassess marketing strategies. With new features being added regularly and channels emerging, DMOs may even emerge from this crisis stronger. However, it's crucial that values and ethics are central components of strategic decisions.
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