$7.3 trillion in global travel spending is influenced in some way by social media and creator content, according to Skift Research — and the largest hotel groups are now restructuring their influencer operations to capture a measurable share of that spend.

Skift Research Head Seth Borko presented the estimate at the Skift Creator Economy Summit, where speakers from Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Meta and Fora described how they are moving creators out of standalone awareness campaigns and into the booking funnel.

Why are hotels restructuring creator deals?

Nearly half of travelers have canceled and rebooked accommodations at least once because of something they saw on social, Skift Research also found. That behavior is forcing brand teams to defend an awkward gap: creators shape demand, but the transaction typically still lands at Google, an OTA, or the brand's own site.

"Content built around a whole trip converts better than a hotel reel," Fora co-founder Evan Frank said. His company trains creators as travel advisors who earn backend commissions and keep roughly 75% of the take — a model that turns the creator into a seller rather than a promoter.

What are the chains doing?

Hyatt has concluded that paid social now beats its other channels on incremental ROI. The group is shifting more of its 2027 media mix toward paid social and replacing one-off influencer deals with ongoing relationships tied to loyalty.

IHG runs a Creator Collective of roughly 100 creators on annual contracts. Creators are briefed early and measured after each assignment, which the chain uses to standardize reporting across markets.

Marriott has placed creator work alongside paid media, with brand, creative, PR and performance teams now working from shared goals rather than separate briefs.

What does Meta say needs to change?

Meta executives at the summit argued that scalable creator programs require three things: clear ownership inside the brand, a dedicated budget, and incrementality as the standard measurement. That last point directly targets the long-running critique that creator campaigns get credited with sales they did not cause.

Fora's structure answers part of that critique. By routing bookings through advisor links, the company can show a creator-attributed transaction — and pay out only when one occurs. Hyatt, IHG and Marriott are pursuing the same visibility through different mechanics: deeper CRM tagging, post-campaign lift studies, and tighter contract terms.

What is the revenue implication for sellers of travel?

The shift redistributes who gets paid inside the creator economy. A traditional sponsored post converts attention into a flat fee; an advisor-linked model converts attention into commission. For travel sellers, that means a larger slice of marketing budgets flowing through creator-affiliate networks, with new disclosure and commission-rate questions for OTAs, advisors and brands to negotiate.

Fora's 75%-to-creator payout is the most concrete number in the space so far. Hyatt's incremental-ROI finding is the first public signal from a major chain that paid social has overtaken search and display on a returns basis — a benchmark rivals will be pressed to match or refute in upcoming filings and earnings calls.

The 2027 media-mix shift at Hyatt, combined with IHG's 100-creator contract pool and Marriott's unified-team structure, points to a creator economy that will be measured by bookings and commission revenue rather than impressions by the end of next year.