I’m fascinated with all things travel and it’s one of the most perfect industries in terms of what works well online. Travel is especially social, both as a purchase and as an experience. The content often looks particularly beautiful too, illustrated by these 12 gorgeous Vine Postcards that will make you want to travel.

Vacationers typically go through five stages when planning a trip – sharing, dreaming, researching, booking and experiencing – and social media can play an important role throughout. A recent infographic found that 52% of U.S. people use social media for travel inspiration and three out of four people post vacation photos to a social network.

Travel company marketers should embrace social media like a best friend and if they don’t have a strategy in place, they are missing out on a huge opportunity.

There are countless examples of travel companies getting it right – and it doesn’t have to be complicated. For example, Tourism Australia does an amazing job of utilizing user-generated content. Its dedicated interaction with fans 24 hours a day, means that fans now create more than 95% of content on the tourism board’s profiles, with more than 1,000 fan photos shared every day across its networks.

I like the Four Seasons’ new Pin.Pack.Go concept too – a Pinterest trip planning service that connects guests with Four Seasons local experts around the world. Users are encouraged to share pinned photos and ideas directly with Four Seasons insiders, who then help them to build and book a perfect travel itinerary.

Or, being a travel and coffee fan, I loved it when The Ritz-Carlton of Naples took to Facebook to ask its guests questions like: “How do you like your coffee?” Staff would then surprise the guest every morning by remembering how they liked their coffee, leading to great reviews for the hotel and, more importantly, more bookings!