"A raw and real take," TikTok becoming main source of information for travelers
BOSTON - Whether you are planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast, Paris, London or Venice, chances are there is someone on TikTok who has been exactly where you want to go.
"TikTok is a bit more of a raw and real take on a visit to a new place," said Regal Cleminson, a manager of several online content creators and her own Instagram, @Venturetravelist.
Cleminson has used TikTok to help her book lots of trips.
"The coolest travel thing I found on TikTok was for a most recent trip that I did to Greece, and it was a ranking of pretty much all the places that I had on my wish list to go. It helped me to prioritize where I was going to spend my time," she told WBZ-TV.
The CEO and founder of Coastline Creatives and Maine native suggests simply searching a destination and then let TikTok do its thing.
"Then, all of a sudden, you are going to get other videos that populate in your feed on a regular basis," she explained. "From there, I would use the collections feature on TikTok."
To start your collection, simply hit the bookmark button, name your collection, and it will create a board of saved videos on your profile page, much like Pinterest.
You can research neighborhoods in a city, get an idea of the vibe of a hotel or find out if a restaurant is dressy or casual.
"You can get really focused and say 'sandwiches in the Amalfi Coast,' and it will deliver you content specifically about that. The search functionality is great," Cleminson said.
When we tried it, we got a dozen or more posts about sandwiches on the Amalfi coast, including one from @michaelmotamedi, in which he claimed to find the best sandwich on the coast.
Looking for tips on travel to Disney World? Let @StoryofSavannah show you tips like setting alarms for all of your fast pass times and taking photos in front of the castle during parade times when there are not huge crowds.
The more you search, the more content TikTok will find for you, but Cleminson warns travelers to check dates as some posts might be old and double-check before booking anything.
"These are not professionals or press, so take everything that they say with a grain of salt and still do your own research," she said.
