• by Danielle Oster , 4 hours ago

Delta introduced its first foray into travel content with the debut of its trip planning and destination discovery platform, Delta Locals.

Delta Locals launches with information on four travel destinations: Los Angeles, Tokyo, Patagonia, and Sicily. Targeted to both infrequent and seasoned travelers, the platform connects users with perspectives from locals intimately familiar with each destination.

Developed in partnership with creative agency Kin, and virtual shopping platform Obsess, Delta Locals is described in a press release as “equal parts technology and human-powered.”

“Delta Locals uses technology to shape the future of travel — but at its core, it’s about people. It’s about the lived experiences, stories, and connections shared by our local guides,” Kin Co-Founder Kwame Taylor-Hayford said in a statement.

Delta’s local guides include painter Alice Valenti curating local culture in Sicily, digital producer Sara Giusto exploring mini pig cafes and sake tastings “deep into the coolest neighborhoods of Tokyo,” and entertainer Michael Donte and vegan chef Jocelyn Ramirez diving into the Black House music and Mexican food scenes of Los Angeles.

Delta is promoting Delta Locals through ads on social media as well as earned media outreach, including videos.

Delta Locals puts the airline “at the forefront of what travel content and planning could look like in the future as more people lean into sustainable travel and veer away from travel tourist traps,” Kin Co-founder Sophie Ozoux explained. “And the scalability of this platform is exciting -- the opportunities to highlight more destinations across Delta’s network are endless.”

Previewed at CES earlier this year, the platform will expand to additional destinations including Austin, Curacao, Dublin, and Marrakech in the coming months.

“Delta’s goal for our next 100 years of travel is to be so much more than just your airline,” Delta CMO Alicia Tillman said in a statement, expressing the company’s goals of helping travelers ensure they’re  “fully exploring the best that places have to offer with insights that most tourists would never know about.”

TravelBoom Chief Strategy Officer Cary Murphy told Marketing Daily last month that many of the results of the company’s 2026 Leisure Travel Study relate to a broader shift in consumers prioritizing “authenticity”and “personalization” in travel, with “local experiences mattering more than fancy amenities.”