How to Use User-Generated Content (UGC) to Grow Your Tourism Business
About This Article
Reading time: ~5 mins
Subject: Social Media Marketing
Format: Article
SUMMARY: User-generated content (UGC) helps tourism businesses connect with travellers meaningfully by showcasing real moments and genuine experiences. When you encourage guests to share their stories, thoughtfully curate what you feature, and always give credit, you build trust and visibility that money can’t buy. With the right mix of permission, context, and creativity, UGC becomes one of the most engaging and reliable storytelling tools in your marketing toolkit.
Travellers trust other travellers. When someone shares a memorable moment from your tourism business, that story often carries more weight and costs far less than paid promotion – especially when it reflects the people, places, and communities behind it.
User-generated content (UGC) refers to any photo, video, review, testimonial, or story shared by your guests online. When your business shares UGC thoughtfully, it builds credibility, strengthens community connections, and keeps your business visible online without a big production budget.
Key benefits of UGC for tourism businesses include:
- A growing image and video library you can reuse across your website, social media, email, and promotions, with permission and credit.
- Greater trust is built when real guests share honest experiences with their friends and followers.
- Cost savings by reducing the need for frequent professional photo shoots.
- Better engagement with guests who feel seen and valued when their content is shared.
- Stand out in crowded feeds with genuine, guest-driven storytelling instead of traditional ads.
Encourage Guests To Post More
Travellers love to share their experiences on platforms like Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, and thoughtful guidance can help shape what they post. Encourage guests with light prompts that reflect your brand’s personality, such as “Show us your favourite moment” or “Share the view that made your day.” Keep your requests relaxed so posts feel genuine, not staged, and point out scenic photo spots, or moments where photography is appropriate and permitted during tours, to inspire great content.
Small visual reminders help too. Add your hashtag to signage, confirmations, or welcome emails, and remind your team to mention it naturally in conversation with guests. When it comes to hashtags, quality matters more than quantity, so focus on three to five relevant hashtags that mix your branded tag with local and experience-based ones (for example, #YourBusinessName, #YourTownTourism, and #ExploreBC).
Tourism Tip: Invite guests to tag your business and share their posts weekly to your feed with a note of thanks. Publicly acknowledging their content fosters a sense of community and encourages a steady flow of authentic guest stories that highlight your destination in real time.
Curate and Manage UGC Responsibly
Collecting user-generated content is only half the job. Curating UGC is equally important to ensure the content , respects privacy, honours cultural protocols, and reflects your experience honestly. Always ask for permission before sharing a guest’s photo or video. A simple message like “We love your photo and would like to share it on our channels. May we have your permission?” builds trust and protects copyright.
Tools like CrowdRiff and Simpleview help collect, organize, and manage permissions, while Later focuses on scheduling and gathering UGC from tags and mentions. You can also manage content manually, without apps, by checking hashtags, mentions, or location tags on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to identify guest posts worth resharing.
Tourism Tip: Create a shared “UGC Approved” folder on your computer (or use an app or tool that supports this) with each creator’s handle, permission status, and post link. It keeps your team aligned and ensures every post you share is cleared, credited, and ready to go.
Hashtags Tips:
- Use one clear branded hashtag and track it regularly. Pick a unique tag that isn’t already used a lot on Meta channels and that represents your business, for example, #MyAccommodationName or #VisitDestinationExperienceName.
- Stick with it over time rather than creating new hashtags for every season or campaign. Check weekly for new guest posts from your guests using it.
- Hashtags are only one of several discovery signals and do not guarantee reach; pair them with strong captions, visuals, and engagement.
- Choose three to five relevant hashtags. Include one branded tag (your business), one city or regional tag (like #ExploreKelowna), and one experience tag (such as #WhaleWatchingBC) and place them in your caption, not in the comments.
Tourism Tip: Always check how a hashtag is being used on Instagram before committing to it. Someone else may already be posting under that tag, or the feed may be cluttered or off-topic in ways that do not reflect your business.
Best Practices for Using UGC
- Always ask for permission. A quick message shows respect and protects copyright. Be specific: “We love this photo! Can we share it on our social media channels with full credit?” or “Would you be comfortable if we included this in our email newsletter or website, with your name and handle?”
- Always credit the creator. When you post or reshare anything, tag the creator’s handle clearly and thank them in your caption. That recognition goes a long way toward building trust and encouraging future collaboration.
- Keep it fresh. Update visuals every season so your feed reflects what travellers can expect now. If you aim to inspire long-haul travellers to book for a different season, make sure you give context in your post (e.g. “Booking for next summer? Here’s what it looks like, thanks to @creatorname”).
- Working with professional paid content creators under contract is different from sharing guest-generated content. Creators often produce original work under agreed terms, so when working with Influencers or paid content creators, always use written contracts that outline ownership, permissions, and how the content will be used. This protects both parties and ensures the partnership stays transparent and respectful.
Tourism Tip: Dedicate one day each week to sharing guest content that fits the season or your booking focus. Mix short videos with still images to keep your feed varied and visually balanced.
Measure What Matters
Success with UGC isn’t just about follower counts or likes. It’s about engagement that reflects genuine interest, including shares, comments, saves, and clicks.
Use tools such as Meta Business Suite, TikTok Analytics, or the Performance section in your Google Business Profile to identify which content performs best. Track patterns by season, format, and topic so you can adjust what you share based on what actually engages your audience.
Tourism Tip: Label each UGC post in your content calendar, such as “UGC-Summer-2026.” Over time, compare engagement to see which seasons, themes, or visuals inspire the most bookings
Bring UGC Into Your Marketing Mix
User-generated content doesn’t belong only on social media. If you have the permissions, you can feature UGC on your website on booking pages, in newsletters, or in your brochure. When resharing, add context that helps people plan their trip. A guest photo of a hike becomes more useful when captioned with something like, “This trail starts right from our lodge.” That small detail can turn inspiration into bookings.
Tourism Tip: Add a Guest Highlights gallery to your website and refresh it each season. Feature one guest photo at a time with a short testimonial and a direct link to book or get in touch.
Cultural and Ethical Considerations
When using UGC, treat every creator and community with respect. Always ask permission before sharing, always confirm context, and always give clear credit. These steps apply to all content. When content features cultural or community events or expressions, including those of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples or faith-based groups, this care is even more critical. In these cases, confirm permissions directly with organizers or rights holders to ensure accuracy, respect, and cultural integrity.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how tourism content is created and shared, but real visitor stories remain the most meaningful. If you use AI to enhance images, write captions, or generate visuals, clearly disclose that you are using AI. Misleading audiences about AI-generated content risks exposing yourself to complaints under advertising rules and can erode trust with travellers and community partners.
Tourism Tip: If a guest shares a video of a cultural or community event, message them for consent and context before posting. If a cultural or faith group organized the event, confirm permissions with the organizers as well to ensure the content is shared respectfully.
When travellers help tell your story for you, their voices carry farther than any ad could. Encourage it, guide it, and those shared moments can become the heartbeat of your business.
Digital tools and platforms used in tourism marketing evolve quickly. Features, algorithms, interfaces, AI and even how travellers find or engage with your content may change over time. This article is designed to stay relevant for tourism businesses in BC, but processes, settings, and terminology can shift. For the most accurate and current information, always check the official documentation or help pages of the tools and platforms you use to share, advertise, or manage your tourism business online.
Last updated: March, 2026
