Key stat: Travel brands' YouTube Shorts held viewers for 76.3% of the video on average in Q2 2026, up from just 17.0% a year earlier, according to a recent report from Dash Social.

Beyond the chart:

• Social feeds are where trips start. Some 32% of US leisure travelers turn to social media for ideas on where to go, ahead of AI (30%) and travel blogs (27%), according to Mindtrip, Sabre, Sojern, and MMGY Travel Intelligence.
• Still, travel has ground to cover. The average YouTube Short holds viewers for 84.6% of its length, according to Dash Social.

Use this chart: Drop this into your next travel or hospitality media plan to retire the excuse that your category doesn't work on Shorts. Pair travel's 76.3% with the 32% of travelers who look to social for trip ideas, then show the 84.6% benchmark to prove there's still room to grow.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• The YouTube Ad Ecosystem (EMARKETER subscription required)
• US Ad Spend by Industry 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is collected and analyzed quarterly by Dash Social, including posts from national and international companies across major social media platforms, including TikTok (n=917), Instagram (n=2,829), YouTube (n=684), Facebook (n=1,318), Pinterest (n=548), and X (755 companies) to ensure a comprehensive and representative sample. Only accounts with at least 1,000 followers were considered. Benchmarks were established by calculating the average performance of each brand, providing breakdowns by follower grouping as well as industry. Sample size among platforms, industries and follower buckets may vary.