Travellers are more likely to trust BAD photos than good ones, survey reveals

Oh dear, it sounds like the lo-fi content creation boom has reached commercial travel photography, with data suggesting that travellers are “skeptical of destinations and accommodations that only post polished, curated content.”

The survey from Full Frame Insurance, taken from a pool of 1,000 Americans, was conducted to find out how travel photography impacts trust when vacationers are searching online.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, AI-generated or enhanced imagery proved a big concern, with 83% of respondents feeling “anxious about AI-generated images” and only 6% believing AI intervention will make the genre more trustworthy.

This mistrust isn’t coming from nowhere, with more than one in five feeling unsafe when arriving at a destination that they booked because of the imagery, and nearly two in five feeling let down by “misleading” travel photography.

The survey also revealed that diversity played a big role in how likely a respondent was to respond favorably to imagery, with 42% more likely to visit a travel destination promoted by photos with a diverse representation.

The survey also revealed some not-so-surprising data about Gen Z. While 1 in 4 respondents was influenced by “how attractive people look in destination photos”, this rose to 59% when the survey pool was limited to Gen Z. That’s not all; nearly a third of social-media-savvy Gen Zers bring a travel buddy along to capture selfies.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway for those within the travel industry is that 82% of respondents said they like realistic imagery of travel destinations, “even if that means showing construction zones, sketchy areas, or visible safety concerns.”

So there you have it. I, for one, am not surprised to hear that AI-enhancement is a big cause for concern when viewing travel photos. As I said a few months ago, in this new world of AI, photography will live and die by how transparent we photographers choose to be about the images we create.

This survey by Full Frame Insurance only seems to embolden that sentiment.

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