Some airlines have been using Twitter for travel marketing purposes, but they are not the only branch of the travel industry that has adopted social media platforms. Social networking has influenced just about every part of travel, from hotels and air travel to people who are doing the travelling.

The infographic drafts the different ways social media has influenced the travel industry, and where the industry could still see some growth. Fifty percent of U.S citizens uses Facebook (that’s 155 million users), but only 37 percent have passports (115 million users). That means 63 percent of Americans can’t travel outside of the country. There are also users who access their social networks daily while travelling, 72 percent of them access their social network while on travel but 7 percent use mobile internet while traveling internationally.

Not only do reviews and pictures matter for people to make choices about where they go and stay, but they also aid companies that focus on travel needs such as airline search, hotel deals, and even cruise ships, if you’re planning on a 3-hour tour.

There are 50 million social reviews that have been written for 495,000 rated hotels at TripAdvidor alone, and travel companies saw 69 percent traffic growth on their Facebook profile, and 46 percent on Twitter. Southwest Airlines ruled on social media with 1.6 million Facebook likes and 1.1 million followers on Twitter.  As you can see, companies do realize the power of social media to influence consumer decisions, especially students.