Top 100 Most Influential Tourism Professionals – October Edition

Uh oh. It’s list time again, guys!

I want to give you some thoughts, but I know why you guys are all here. So without further adieu, here we go:

Rank	Twitter Screenname	% of Tourism Pros Follow	Klout Score
1.	@SheilaS	80%	71
2.	@WhosYourAnnie	82.1%	65
3.	@theresaoverby	78.9%	65
4.	@mobethann	80%	62
5.	@TomMartin	75.8%	65
6.	@GammetGuy	81.1%	57
7.	@pagetx	75.8%	62
8.	@andrewghayes	66.3%	71
9.	@decillis	70.5%	64
10.	@katiecook	78.9%	55
11.	@Beaumartian	72.6%	61
12.	@scullyano	69.5%	62
13.	@travel2dot0	67.4%	63
14.	@claudiabia	63.2%	65
15.	@mandiengram	63.2%	61
16.	@wilhelmus	64.2%	58
17.	@Banff_Squirrel	57.9%	64
18.	@Amy_Brock	58.9%	62
19.	@BeckyMcCray	52.6%	67
20.	@jeremyawilliams	62.1%	56
21.	@laynadugan	57.9%	59
22.	@theplanetd	40%	75
23.	@earthXplorer	31.6%	82
24.	@AshleyTravels	63.2%	50
25.	@TravelBlggr	43.2%	69
26.	@CygnetUpdates	55.8%	55
27.-TIE	@traveldudes	32.6%	78
27.-TIE	@KellyDeanOttawa	52.6%	58
29.	@billgeist	60%	50
30.	@lbach22	57.9%	52
31.	@sschandler	38.9%	68
32.	@oregonkat	66.3%	40
33.	@ChatterBachs	55.8%	50
34.	@EverywhereTrip	29.5%	75
35.	@Joe_ExpCols	49.5%	54
36.	@mosherifdeen	58.9%	44
37.-TIE	@PeterSGreenberg	33.7%	69
37.-TIE	@Andrea_VisitGR	53.7%	49
39.	@karasw	40%	62
40.	@mike_vstpcola	61.1%	40
41.-TIE	@GregRuby	38.9%	62
41.-TIE	@thePRguy	38.9%	62
43.	@chris2x	36.8%	64
44.	@ilovememphis	33.7%	67
45.	@nomadicmatt	32.6%	68
46.	@McMedia	29.5%	71
47.	@jeremy_harvey	68.4%	32
48.	@Marilyn_Res	29.5%	70
49.	@flyawaycafe	38.9%	60
50.	@Shalyn_Marsh	47.4%	51
51.	@TravelSocial	46.3%	52
52.	@nathankam	31.6%	66
53.	@DeepDishCreates	44.2%	53
54.	@bobf_vstpgh	50.5%	46
55.	@TroutLine	42.1%	54
56.	@CAroundTheWorld	29.5%	66
57.	@jccjhiggins	47.4%	48
58.	@BVMatson	61.1%	34
59.	@hmaust	40%	55
60.	@laurably	37.9%	57
61.	@SeattleMaven	34.7%	60
62.	@Ted_Sullivan	68.4%	25
63.	@JoeDuck	33.7%	58
64.	@LeslieMcLellan	34.7%	57
65.	@CajunMama	33.7%	58
66.	@nerdseyeview	30.5%	61
67.	@DCtravelgirl	46.3%	45
68.-TIE	@thefrontrowe	35.8%	55
68.-TIE	@wendyperrin	35.8%	55
70.	@ElenaNW	46.3%	43
71.	@shannasmith	42.1%	47
72.	@GathanDBorden	40%	49
73.	@kristaparry	38.9%	50
74.	@robertpatterson	33.7%	55
75.	@theslynch	48.4%	40
76.	@coldinpdx	51.6%	36
77.-TIE	@thetripchicks	30.5%	57
77.-TIE	@MeileeAnderson	30.5%	57
79.	@Travelogged	29.5%	58
80.	@stephenjoyce	34.7%	52
81.	@Susantravels	30.5%	55
82.	@starmediaguy	31.6%	51
83.	@teresaide	50.5%	32
84.	@toddlucier	45.3%	36
85.	@MommyMusings	29.5%	51
86.	@KellyTravels	38.9%	40
87.	@JEBworks	31.6%	47
88.	@tonylyle	34.7%	41
89.	@emilyforsha	29.5%	46
90.	@MoTravelMama	35.8%	39
91.	@melissayaohille	34.7%	38
92.	@ToshaTD	42.1%	29
93.	@nastephen	46.3%	24
94.	@MarMcDon	31.6%	38
95.	@anthony0504	33.7%	33
96.	@chrissydani	32.6%	34
97.	@SarahElam	33.7%	31
98.-TIE	@kagray	40%	24
98.-TIE	@RickRodriguezTN	40%	24
100.	@dsmgirl	31.6%	30

Methodology: I took the top ten from the original list and found 96 individual tourism accounts that the majority of them were following. I then found the 100 most followed individuals in tourism by these 96. From there, I looked up their Klout score. I added the percentage of followers and the Klout score and that gave me their rank. As before, I did take one individual off based on this person’s interactions with others. If you would like to talk about this further, we can do that in a different venue.

I had wanted to add in Peer Index into the process by adding it to the Klout score and then dividing by two. However, when trying to work with Peer Index, I found it to be clunky and even buggier than Klout. Many people that I knkow are “good tweeters” and are pretty active were given a score of zero on Peer Index. I just couldn’t do that to people that I know are doing what they should be doing on Twitter. Therefore, I decided not to use it.

In the three months since I did the original list, I think there has been a change in the tourism community. We are getting stronger. We are networking with each other more. And that’s awesome. Some people rocketed onto this list based on the fact that they simply talked to the community more.  It could have been in a chat where they gave great advice or it could have been about something not at all related to tourism. They just talked. And we started listening. I think this brand of effective networking is only going to continue, which means it’s going to become even harder to keep a place on this list. And that excites the hell out of me.

When looking at these accounts, know that not all of them are super active on Twitter. That doesn’t make them any less influential. They may choose to spread their influence via DMs or on Facebook. I think the point here is that they are there and most of them are willing to help. It’s up to you to figure out where they are most comfortable communicating.

I also want to make clear that I make no money off of this list and I have nothing to sell any of you. I do this list out of pure love of this community and a desire to make it stronger. We are only as strong as our ability to recruit new members and I want this list to be a starting point for anyone that is trying to get a start in the tourism Twitter community. If I have succeeded in that goal, then my time has been well spent.

And here is your Twitter list for your following pleasure.

So who do you think is missing?