Pinterest vs. Instagram: Which One Is Better for Travel Agents & Advisors
- Sandra M
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
The Surprising Platform That Wins on Traffic, Leads, and Longevity
If you're a travel agent/advisor who’s spent months (or years) trying to grow on Instagram with little to show for it—this blog is for you. Instead of adding new platforms to your workload you're probably trying to compare them to figure out what's best - and in this coaching article we'll walk you through one comparison that has travel agents and advisors uncertain - Pinterest vs Instagram.
You’ve posted gorgeous destination photos, kept up with Reels, tested hashtags, maybe even paid for ads. And yet, your follower count grows slowly (if at all), your reach feels random, and your actual website traffic remains low.
Here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud:Instagram wasn’t designed to grow your travel business.
Sure, it’s a great branding platform. It can help people get to know you. But if your goal is to drive traffic, build your email list, or generate leads, Instagram makes it difficult—and Pinterest makes it easy.
Let’s break down how these two platforms compare, and why Pinterest is quickly becoming the go-to tool for travel agents/advisors who want results without burnout.
What’s the Real Goal of Your Marketing?
Let’s start here:What do you actually want your marketing to do?
Drive more traffic to your website
Fill your calendar with qualified leads
Grow your email list with ideal future clients
Help you stay booked even in slow seasons
If any of those goals sound familiar, your strategy needs to support outbound clicks—sending people away from the platform and toward your travel business funnel.
Now let’s look at how Instagram and Pinterest stack up.
Pinterest vs. Instagram: A Side-by-Side Breakdown for Travel Agents & Advisors
Feature | ||
Platform Type | Visual Search Engine | Social Media / Content Feed |
Link-Friendly? | Yes — every pin can have a link | Limited — 1 bio link + some links in Stories |
Designed for Clicks? | ✅ Yes — Pinterest encourages outbound clicks | ❌ No — Instagram tries to keep users on the app |
Visibility Duration | Long-term (weeks, months, even years) | Short-term (1–3 days max) |
Searchable Content | Fully searchable via keywords | Not searchable beyond hashtags |
Content Shelf Life | Evergreen (compounds over time) | Ephemeral (bursts of visibility, then gone) |
Traffic Potential | High — direct clicks to blogs, lead magnets | Low — most users don’t leave the app |
Audience Behavior | Planners and searchers | Scrollers and browsers |
Works Without Followers? | Yes | No — requires social proof to gain visibility |
Works While You're Away? | Yes — pins keep working | No — needs frequent posting to stay visible |
Why Instagram Feels So Draining
If Instagram feels like a full-time job, it’s because it is.
You’re constantly having to:
Post Reels with trending audio
Craft captions with CTA hooks
Monitor your DMs and comments
Engage daily or risk losing reach
Figure out ever-changing algorithm updates
And the reward?
Often just a few likes, a few emoji comments, and very few actual clicks to your website.
Even if you’re doing everything “right,” it doesn’t guarantee consistent visibility. The platform is simply not built for discovery or driving leads. It’s built for interaction within the app.
What Makes Pinterest Different?
Pinterest’s mission is completely different: to help users find what they’re looking for.
Pinterest is:
A planning tool
A discovery platform
A search engine
A traffic generator
And that’s great news for travel agents/advisors who create content like:
Blog posts
Destination guides
Packing lists
Quizzes
Booking consultation pages
Because each one of those pieces of content can be linked directly to a pin—and that pin can continue showing up in search results for months (or even years).
Pinterest Prioritizes Your Website. Instagram Doesn’t.
This is the big one.Pinterest was literally built to send users off-platform—to your site, your booking page, or your lead magnet.
That’s the whole point of a pin.
Every time you create a new blog post, guide, or planning checklist, you can make 3–5 pins that link directly to it.
That’s up to 5 chances for someone to find it, click it, save it, and join your sales funnel.
Compare that to Instagram:
No link in posts
One link in bio
Story links disappear in 24 hours
Posts are not searchable after a few days
If your goal is lead generation, Pinterest supports it. Instagram delays it.
Real-World Travel Marketing Examples
Let’s see how this plays out in a few niches:
Luxury River Cruising
Instagram: You post a stunning photo from a Danube river cruise. 200 people like it. 3 comment. That’s it.
Pinterest: You post a pin titled “Best Danube River Cruise Itineraries for 2025” that links to your full blog. It gets saved to 10 travel boards and starts driving clicks to your site every week.
Romance & Honeymoon Travel
Instagram: You post a Reel from an all-inclusive resort in the Maldives. It gets a few hearts.
Pinterest: You post a pin titled “Top 7 Overwater Bungalows for Honeymooners” that links to a guide with your planning form. Someone saves it in May, clicks in July, and books in September.
Adventure Travel
Instagram: You post a Story about a Patagonia hiking trip. It expires in 24 hours.
Pinterest: Your pin “Beginner’s Guide to Hiking in Patagonia” stays visible for months in multiple search results and group boards.
Don’t Just Build an Audience—Build a Funnel
Here’s the problem with social-only marketing:
You’re building an audience, but not a funnel.
Pinterest allows you to:
Attract people searching for travel inspiration
Convert them with a compelling blog, guide, or freebie
Capture them with email opt-ins or consult forms
Nurture them via email until they’re ready to book
With Instagram, you may entertain or inspire, but converting is much harder.
Pinterest shortens the distance between discovery and decision.
What About Branding and Connection?
You might be thinking: “But I like showing my personality and connecting with clients on Instagram.”
That’s valid. Instagram is a great tool for connection, not discovery.
Here’s the best approach:
Use Pinterest to grow your funnel with fresh traffic
Use Instagram to nurture your community and build trust
They can work together—but Pinterest should be your traffic driver, not your afterthought.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Let Instagram Be Your Only Strategy
If you’ve been relying solely on Instagram to grow your travel business, you’re likely stuck in a cycle of content creation without conversion.
Pinterest breaks that cycle.
It helps you:
Get discovered through search
Send traffic to your site daily
Build a list of future clients
Spend less time on marketing and more time on bookings
Your content deserves more than 48 hours of visibility. Let Pinterest make it work harder, longer, and smarter.
Want to Learn How to Use Pinterest the Right Way?
At Travel Marketing & Media®, we teach travel agents/advisors how to build real marketing funnels using Pinterest—without the guesswork or overwhelm.
We host free Pinterest Masterclasses twice per year, packed with tips, examples, and a proven system for driving website traffic.
Visit our events page to sign up for the next session. And start shifting from social follower chasing to sustainable lead generation.
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