travelling display advertising

Effective Travel Advertising Strategy for 2022 + 16 Ad Examples

You can’t rely solely on people’s wanderlust when advertising travel services because while it may keep your business afloat, it’s not enough to help you make waves in the industry.

Besides, people’s appetite for traveling is dependent on many factors and may decrease as a result of unforeseen events.

We’ve seen this happen when traveling took a hit in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is reflected in the industry’s spending data on digital advertising from previous years. While things are improving, a lot is riding on travel ads performing well.

For your vacation advertising efforts to be truly successful, you need a combination of good strategy and creative ads .

Stick with me as I walk you through the steps of building an actionable travel advertising strategy, including identifying your target audience, knowing the customer journey, setting your campaign goals, and measuring ads’ effectiveness.

We’ll also look at 16 travel ad examples from big names in the industry that will surely inspire your future campaign creatives.

If you’re more interested in the ad examples rather than the strategy, use the summary below to jump to that part.

A. Steps for the perfect advertising strategy 

1. Identify your target audience

2. know the traveler’s customer journey.

3. Set campaign goals

4. Create ads with seasonality in mind

5. Choose the right advertising platform

6. measure your ads’ effectiveness.

B. Inspiring travel advertising examples and templates

A. Steps for The Perfect Advertising Strategy

Advertising takes time, money, as well as other resources, so needless to say, the end goal is to maximize ROI.

The surest way to achieve this is by devising a strategy beforehand, meaning a step-by-step plan to reach the right audience and persuade prospects to choose your travel services over those of your competitors.

On top of giving you a precise course of action, having a strategy also provides a reference to assess your results along the way and re-evaluate the plan if need be.

Here are the key steps you must check to build a strong tourism advertising strategy:

A well-defined target audience is the foundation of any good travel advertising strategy. 

Just think what a waste of resources it would be to target users with no potential to become customers. Narrowing down the group allows you to focus your efforts on reaching those who would benefit most from your travel services.

Plus, with a clear target audience in mind, you can create travel ads that double as personalized customer experiences, proven to be more successful in converting to sales.

To define your audience, make a list of different attributes you’d like your ideal customer to have, a.k.a. build a buyer persona. These attributes can be geographic, demographic, psychographic, or behavioral. 

• Geographic : anything related to location, including customers’ country, region, city, or even postal code;
• Demographic : population-based attributes, such as gender, age, education, income, marital status, and so on;
• Psychographic : personality traits, values, interests, hobbies, and lifestyle aspects;
• Behavioral : online behaviors according to browsing patterns, spending and purchasing habits, and many others.

The customer journey sums up all interactions a prospect has with a brand during the purchase process, from the first encounter, up until a transaction is completed. 

Commonly, it’s divided into three main stages: awareness, consideration, and conversion.

However, a traveler’s customer journey differs from the typical model because booking a trip isn’t an easy-to-make purchase decision; quite the opposite—a lot of thought and planning is put into it. 

I mean, would you buy plane tickets as quickly as you would a chocolate bar? Me neither.

So, the customer’s travel journey can be split into the following four to five stages: 

• Dreaming: whether it’s picturing themselves in a gondola on the canals of Venice or sunbathing in Greece, all soon-to-be travelers begin here.
• Planning: even the most spontaneous people make some sort of arrangement for their trip, even if it only implies picking a hotel to stay at.
• Booking: prospects are ready to buy plane tickets and book accommodation. 
• Experiencing: travelers are enjoying their vacation and making lasting memories.
• Remembering: this is an optional stage that comes after the traveler’s journey is completed, where you can consolidate the relationship with your brand .

Understanding this customer journey allows you to time your travel advertising to the most favorable moments, specifically when prospects are in the planning and booking stages.

3. Set your travel campaign goals

Goals or objectives give your travel campaigns a clear direction and help you measure progress along the way, so you don’t lose sight of the value of your work.

To yield the best results, you should set your campaign goals according to the S.M.A.R.T. criteria. The acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, all qualities your goals should have.

A few of the most common goals that can aid your campaign’s success are the following:

• Increase brand awareness by getting your travel services on the radar of potential customers;
• Grow website traffic or attract new visitors to your company’s website;
• Drive consideration through campaigns that promote different travel services;
• Generate leads , whether that means new subscribers to a newsletter or prospects filling out a form to find out more about an offer;
• Boost conversions , a.k.a. make sales.

4. Create travel ads with seasonality in mind

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain . 

Well, not really. It falls along Spain’s northern coast and mountains. But the country has its meteorological particularities, as do all travel destinations .

Tourism is highly dependent on weather conditions. As a general rule, there are three seasons in the travel industry: peak season, shoulder season, and off-season.

Demand usually hits an all-year high in summertime (mid-June through August), known as the peak season or high season.

From April to mid-June and from September to October is the shoulder season, during which people still travel, but not as much as they do during peak season.

All travel businesses experience a decline in sales from November to March during what is known as the off-season.

However, seasonality isn’t necessarily a negative thing for travel marketing as it allows you to have a clear perspective over the following months.

Try to stay mindful of seasonal patterns and trends as you will understand when prospects want to purchase plane tickets, accommodation, or all-inclusive offers to specific destinations. Timing your creative ads and tailoring your messaging according to these seasons might help you influence purchase decisions.

There are numerous advertising platforms available, and the easiest way to identify the most suitable ones for your brand is to look where your customers are spending time.

Generally, the following three platforms are obvious choices for most businesses:

Google Ads: Running search or display campaigns on the Google ad network allows you to leverage Google’s massive reach and advanced targeting options to get in front of potential customers exactly when they are looking for travel services.

Social media ads: Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, advertising on social media helps you increase brand recognition and reach a wider audience at the same time. Plus, it gives you the chance to experiment with a wide range of ad formats, including image and video ads.

Email marketing: Email offers a direct communication channel with customers that you can use to send personalized messaging, as well as discounts and special offers. Besides, it’s a cost-effective marketing method that provides easily measurable results.

Even with a killer strategy up your sleeve, things might not go as expected. And even if they do, measuring the success of your travel campaign is vital to understanding how your vacation ads are performing. 

If everything is going well, you’ll know what to repeat with future campaigns, and in the opposite scenario, you’ll figure out how to optimize ads for success.

Luckily each advertising platform, including Google and Facebook , offers relevant metrics known as KPIs (key performance indicators) to track for the most popular campaign objectives. Hence, you know exactly what to look at.

Things work differently for email marketing campaigns, as you need third-party tools that also enable email automation to measure campaign performance.

B. Inspiring Travel Advertising Examples and Templates

On to the part everyone has been waiting for, here are 17 travel ad examples that succeed in capturing audiences’ attention in one way or another:

Expedia: Chase new experiences

Let’s kick things off with an industry giant—Expedia. These two creative ads from the same campaign work so well because they promote experiences tourists can have in Marocco rather than the destination itself.

The font pairing is a match made in heaven, and the copy conveys a powerful message when teamed up with the beautiful scenery photos.

Kayak: Group trip without the drama

This Kayak display ad gets the struggle of planning a trip with a large group of friends. No matter how tight the relationships are, it’s bound to be a bumpy road.

While design-wise, the ad might not be too impressive, the copy makes audiences feel understood, which is why I think it deserves a place on this travel ad examples list.

JetBlue: Stretch your legs, not your wallet

Moving on to a different traveling pain point, we have this witty JetBlue Facebook ad that promotes the airline’s extra option to have up to 7″ more legroom in coach class.

The simple illustrated design is elevated by the ad copy that manages to capture viewers’ attention and say so much with so few words.

As this is one of my favorite travel ads on this list, I couldn’t resist including a second Facebook ad from the same campaign, a video one this time.

Once again, the funny ad copy is the star, suggesting you don’t have to be a billionaire such as the likes of Jeff Bezos to get to space, which is a clever way of saying JetBlue travelers can get more legroom at an affordable price.

Carta Travel: Tailor made travel experiences

Edit this template

Pictures have the power to transport viewers to different locations, so many travel ads use them to do just that. This template is no exception, using a photograph of a beautiful sunset as its main focus.

If you’d like to create similar designs for your business, open this template in Creatopy and customize it with different elements from our extensive library.

Lufthansa: The joy of flying

The view from an airplane window has become representative of traveling. Many people pay extra money to sit in the window seat when flying or rejoice when randomly assigned to it.

The German company Lufthansa chose this specific image to evoke the joy of flying and invite viewers to click this half-page display ad promoting the over 200 worldwide destinations in their portfolio.

Air France: Le Rendez-Vous

This animated Air France display ad compares a trip in business class to an anticipated first date, embodying the french elegance and romantic spirit. Of course, we’d expect nothing less from France’s flag carrier.

The ad is also a lesson in consistency, as the brand’s distinctive personality is instantly recognizable thanks to the blue, white, and red color palette, as well as the emblematic logo.

Tripadvisor & Visit Orlando: Explore Unexpected

The Tripadvisor Facebook ad above encourages users to take a different kind of trip from the comfort of their own home—an interactive voice tour of Orlando.

The different shades of teal used for the ad’s design help it stand out on the Facebook feed, while the choice to use a single font ensures the text’s high readability.

Delta Air Lines: Your ticket to more travels

Delta Air Lines uses footage of an idyllic destination to catch the eye right before inviting users to learn more about the miles reward program through the CTA of this Facebook video ad.

The copy aims to persuade by linking the reward card to states of wonder, serenity, and inspiration, all of which can be achieved through traveling.

Hilton: Where the pets stay

Now, this ad will make a lot of pet owners go aww . I mean, it can’t be just me swooning at the idea of traveling with my cat.

It’s true Hilton is targeting a niche audience with this adorable Facebook ad that announces pets are welcome in their hotels. Still, even travelers outside the ad’s target audience are likely to smile at the cute animal photos and the pet-away wordplay in the copy.

Traveloom: A great stay is a happy memory

Is there a more effective way to advertise for hotels and resorts than by using actual pictures from the location? I don’t think so, as all travelers want to see where they will stay before booking accommodation.

This fully customizable Facebook template can be adjusted for any use case by adding and replacing design elements in Creatopy’s drag and drop editor. 

Hotels.com: Find your perfect somewhere

Hotel.com knows how important compatibility between a tourist and its booked hotel is. So much so that they compare it to that between lovers, stressing the importance of choosing the right hotel.

The hotel description narrated in the first person by the personified boutique hotel immediately draws viewers into this upbeat ad. It is reminiscent of about me sections on match-making websites, further supported by the tagline Find your perfect somewhere , which sounds similar to Find your perfect someone . Overall, a great example of video storytelling.

Airbnb: Turn the world into a field trip

This colorful newsletter ad promotes Airbnb’s Field Trips, a collection of online experiences from around the world targeted at kids. 

This time around, the visual part outshines the ad copy, as the bright-colored background catches the eye instantly, and the exciting collage image prompts viewers to click the CTA button that invites them to Explore Field Trips .

Vacasa: Make check-in a breeze

The vacation rental company Vacasa aims to increase app installs with this clean and sharp-looking newsletter ad that promises a stress-free trip experience where travelers needn’t worry about aspects like hotel check-in, home entry codes, or wi-fi connection.

Viewers get a glimpse of how the app looks thanks to two mobile phone screens placed on a color block backdrop, which is a great selling point.

Visit Greece: All you want is Greece

The classic problem and solution approach works here because the ad’s characters are so relatable that viewers can easily identify with them. 

Wrapping It Up

As seen from the strategy tips and ad examples in this article, understanding and connecting with the customer is key in the travel industry. 

Hopefully, you’ve learned something new that you can implement when planning your future travel campaign or designing ads for it.

Let us know what you found most helpful, and feel free to share your own travel advertising tips in the comment section below.

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6 ideas for travel and tourism advertising campaigns (with examples)

Want to create eye-catching travel ads like Expedia, Southwest Airlines, and KAYAK?

As travel starts to pick up again, it’s time to get serious about your advertising. Tour operators can hugely benefit from paid ads — but with so many forms of advertising available across different platforms, you may be wondering where to start.

In this post, we’re sharing actionable strategies to build better ad campaigns that appeal to your target audience, plus top-level examples from the brands who do it best.

Top factors to consider for travel advertising campaigns

Want to see more positive results from ads? Keep these strategies in mind when crafting your future marketing campaigns .

1. Define your target customer

Do you know who your customers are? Before you begin crafting an ad campaign, you need to know more about your guests.

Building a buyer persona is a strategic way for tour businesses to get to know their customers. A buyer persona is a visual representation of your ideal customer: Dig into their demographics, study their behaviors on your website, and send surveys to your email list to find out more.

The takeaway? You’ll find a much higher ROI with ad campaigns that specifically appeal to your target audience.

2. Understand the travel customer journey

It’s difficult to sell a tour to someone who hasn’t decided on a destination yet. Ideally, you want to show your ads to people when they’re most likely to book.

Understanding the travel customer journey can help you pinpoint when that is. Google defines the travel search process in four stages:

• Dreaming: Guests are looking for destination inspiration.
• Planning: Guests are researching potential travel dates, hotels, and activities.
• Booking: Guests are booking flights, hotels, etc.
• Experiencing: Guests have arrived and are searching for activities and attractions to experience.

Tour operators are likely to see more conversions in the “booking” and “experiencing” stages. For example, if you’re investing in Google Ads, it’s better to target narrow search terms like “best hiking tours in Colorado,” which is what someone in the booking or experiencing stage would search for.

People in the dreaming stage, on the other hand, would likely be searching overly broad terms like “best summer destinations.”

3. Choose the right platform

There are several different platforms to launch your advertising campaigns, and choosing the right one matters. Where is your audience most likely to see your ad? Where are they already hanging out?

Here are five popular travel advertising outlets:

• Google Ads: Show up at the top of Google search results for relevant keywords.
• Social media ads: Target specific demographics on Facebook and Instagram.
• Yelp ads: Appear to people searching for similar experiences on Yelp.
• Tripadvisor ads: Target people planning a trip to your destination.
• Email marketing: Offer discounts to your email list, one of the more cost-effective ways to advertise.

4. Pay attention to seasonality

Timing is one of the most important factors in travel advertising. Keep seasonality in mind when crafting your campaigns, and remember to edit previously launched campaigns as needed.

A skiing ad won’t make sense at the beginning of summer, so make sure to pause seasonally irrelevant campaigns.

5. Stay true to your brand

Your ad campaigns should reflect your brand identity. People who click on your advertisements are expecting to find the same tone of voice, visuals, and customer experience on your website.

6. Use geographic targeting 

Rather than making your ad visible everywhere on the planet, you can target specific locations your guests are likely to be in. For example, you can target other tourism websites in your state to lure in tourists who are already visiting.

By narrowing down your ad’s geographic reach, you can maximize your budget and focus on the areas that’ll bring you the most return.

7. Promote your sales and special offers

What better way to entice someone to click on your ad than to present them with an unbeatable offer? Advertisements are an effective way to promote your sales, especially seasonal offers. You can send out an ad offering a great discount during the low season to help replenish your bookings, for example.

Pro Tip: One of the simplest ways to do this is by creating coupon codes. Here is how easy it is to create a new coupon code in Xola.

8. Leverage user-generated content 

Sometimes you can generate an ad campaign with user-generated content alone. It’s another cost-effective way to bring more eyes to your tour company.

You can start by encouraging guests to use your brand’s hashtags, share their photos with their own followers, or even submit photos on your website. Apps, like Fotaflo , which integrates natively with Xola, make the process of curating UGC photos and videos easier. Tour operators can also offer incentives for anyone who posts on social media about your tours, such as hosting a giveaway for everyone who uses a hashtag related to your brand.

Tour operator Intrepid Travel asks guests to share their experiences on Instagram with the hashtag #BeIntrepid , for example, which has garnered over 50,000 posts.

Guests typically love seeing their content reposted on other accounts. Still, make sure to always credit the original owner. To avoid serious copyright issues, many brands ask followers to agree to a disclaimer about how and where the images will be used before re-posting them.

Reviews can also be considered user-generated content — but tour operators need to be very careful when it comes to encouraging guests to leave positive reviews. Tripadvisor prohibits brands from offering incentives in exchange for testimonials “because they can hinder the validity and accuracy of reviews.”

9. Use images and videos

Images and videos are the most powerful form of advertising in the travel industry. High-quality images of your destination and scenes from your tours can entice hundreds of clicks. An expertly crafted video can drive even more engagement.

Instagram and Facebook are great places to start experimenting with image and video ads; see a couple of great examples below.

6 examples of great travel advertising examples 

Ready to see these strategies in action? Here are six travel brands that have nailed their travel marketing — including examples of general ad campaigns, paid search ads, and social media ads.

Expedia’s campaign: “It matters who you travel with.” 

This Expedia campaign wants travelers to feel confident booking with the platform in a post-pandemic travel world. The tagline “It matters who you travel with” frames the company as a trusted travel partner rather than just a booking platform.

The company created a playful and very relatable video of a solo traveler who runs into several hiccups on her trip. That is until actress Rashida Jones steps in, embodying Expedia, and makes the trip more memorable.

The company chose a video to expertly convey its marketing message to travelers: Expedia promises a seamless trip and memorable experiences you can’t find on your own.

Southwest’s Transfarency campaign

Southwest Air Lines’ new campaign targets the controversial topic of ticket prices. The company has always billed itself as a transparent brand that cares about employees and customers alike. The new campaign called Trans fare ncy , a play on the words transparency and airfare, builds on that reputation.

The campaign promises customers no unexpected bag fees, change fees, or hidden fees. It’s a great advertisement because it fits perfectly within Southwest’s brand identity, and the airline delivers on the promise.

TourRadar’s travel and destination Facebook ads

Vienna-based TourRadar launched a Facebook campaign to increase bookings from people who had visited its website. The company used visually stunning travel ads to promote relevant tours to people who had browsed the same tours online.

The company also promoted relevant destination offers and tours to people who hadn’t visited their website yet but had shown interest in the destination. The campaign focused on the company’s core markets, including the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.

It was a success: TourRadar doubled its conversion rate over a year.

KAYAK’s video ads on Instagram

KAYAK ran video ads on Instagram to bring more people to its website, including one that shows how simple it is to filter flights by airline, price, number of stops, and destination.  

The company played around with ad placement in both Stories and the News Feed, and each ad had a “book now” or “learn more” call-to-action button that linked back to the KAYAK website.

The ads were shown to a lookalike audience based on the travel search engine’s existing audience, which increased the likelihood of clicks. As a result, KAYAK saw a 5x increase in incremental sales conversions.

Airbnb Experiences search ad

Airbnb is targeting people who search for outdoor activities in Colorado to promote its local-led tours. In this example specifically, Airbnb’s paid search ad for a hiking tour shows up under the search for “best hiking in Colorado.”

The title “Hiking in the Rockies – Year Round” quickly answers the questions of “where” and “when,” two details that directly impact the customer’s trip. The wording of the title narrows down the search for the searcher. The description focuses on Airbnb’s unique offerings — “hosted by expert locals,” “experiences vetted for quality,” and “small group sizes — further enticing readers to click.

It’s a great example of Airbnb using a feature other than its main accommodation services to bring people into its website.

Viator’s Brooklyn food tours search ad

Here’s another effective Google Ad example. Viator is promoting its food and wine tours in Brooklyn under the search term “Brooklyn food tours.” 

Unlike the other search ads that pop up, Viator specifically mentions the keywords that the customer will be skimming the page for and includes another enticing offer.

Viator includes “Book & Save Money” in its title, directly appealing to money-conscious travelers visiting a destination known for being very expensive. Therefore, this ad specifically speaks to budget or mid-range travelers who appreciate a good deal.

As you can tell from these examples, an effective ad campaign is crafted around your ideal audience. Top travel companies like Viator and Southwest use words, images, and videos to appeal to their target customers, and your campaigns should follow suit.

Now it’s time to implement these strategies into your own campaigns. Then sit back, relax, and watch those bookings soar.

Writer Carla Vianna

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22 Categories to Watch in ‘22: Top Travel Advertising Trends

• 22 Categories to Watch in '22

As we approach the end of the year, we’ll be covering trends from 22 key markets. We’ll recap what each industry has experienced over the past year and what to watch for in 2022. Learn who are the top advertisers from each category and how they spend across formats.

Of all things missed during the pandemic, travel was at the top of the list for many people. 

“[Travel] is a necessity, for lives and livelihoods, for families, as well as for economic and mental health,” said Gavin Tollman , CEO of the global guided tour company Trafalgar. “Never again should we forget that travel is truly one of the greatest gifts for so many reasons beyond just a vacation.”

As more people received their vaccinations, they eagerly began boarding planes and cruises . 

Families felt urgency to give children fun and exploratory experiences they had missed out on for more than a year and a half. Engaging in “ revenge travel ,” parents made up for lost time by going on big trips to Disney World or international destinations. 

By the end of second quarter , Disney reported that parks were at or “near” reduced capacity levels. 

At the same time, businesses realized they could cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint by not sending professionals to far-away meetings or events. Business travel recovery isn’t expected until at least 2023, if not later. In response, airlines have changed their loyalty programs , often reducing the amount of miles needed to achieve a higher status tier. 

The travel industry isn’t out of the woods yet. In the same month that the Biden Administration lifted the pandemic-era ban on international travel, the World Health Organization declared Omicron a “very high” global health risk. 

Will the risk of a new covid variant be enough to deter travelers from exploring new places or visiting family members more frequently? It’s far too soon to tell, but the pent-up demand is still real. 

Top travel companies are investing heavily to reach consumers who’ve shifted their priorities and feel the itch to experience the world. 

MediaRadar Insights

Overall spending and breakdown across formats.

Homebound consumers and the travel industry both needed some rejuvenation in 2021. Travel marketing teams jumped on the opportunity. Overall, travel companies spent $2.31 billion in 2021.

More than $1 billion of this spending was across digital. The second largest format advertisers spend on was print, in which they spent $659 million this year. They also spent $580 million on TV this year.

Number of Advertisers

20 thousand advertisers spent $2.3 billion in 2021 compared to 20 thousand advertisers spending $1.7 billion in 2020.

Advertiser Retention 

In the overall category, travel advertisers had a 48% retention rate between 2020 and 2021 (January – October).

5 Top Advertisers – Which Advertisers Spent the Most in 2021?

1. the walt disney company .

The Walt Disney Company is the top advertiser in this category, dedicating 16% of their overall budget to ads promoting their travel brands. 

The Walt Disney Company’s ad spend is up 73% in comparison to last year with their investment in digital advertising up 89% YOY. They have made significant investments in OTT advertising, which saw increased spending by over 1000% since last year. 

This year, The Walt Disney Company spent over $694 million on digital advertising, with over $44 million going towards online video ads, $152 million going towards Facebook ads, and $44 million going towards Snapchat ads. They also spent over $666 million on TV advertisements, with nearly $341 million allocated for broadcast ads and $325mm for cable ads. 

Below is a breakdown of The Walt Disney Company’s spend thus far in 2021. We predict they will likely have an upcoming RFP issued. MediaRadar can help you connect with 172 key contacts at The Walt Disney Company. 

2. Expedia Group, Inc. 

Expedia Group, Inc. is also top advertiser in this category, dedicating 52% of their overall budget to ads promoting their travel brands. Expedia Group, Inc ad spend is up 138%  in comparison to last year with their investment in digital advertising up 322% year-over-year. 

They have made significant investments in Facebook, OTT, Native, and Newspaper advertising, all of which saw spending increased by over 1000% since last year. 

This year, Expedia Group, Inc spent nearly $180 million on digital advertising, with nearly $132 million going towards online video ads, $27 million going towards Facebook ads, and $10 million going to display advertising. 

Expedia spent over $153mm on TV advertisements, with $98 million allocated for cable ads and $55 million allocated for broadcasting ads. 

Below is a breakdown of Expedia Group’s spend thus far in 2021. We predict they will likely have 2 upcoming RFPs issued. MediaRadar can help you connect with 43 key contacts at Expedia Group, Inc.

3. Airbnb, Inc. 

Airbnb, Inc. is another top advertiser in this category, dedicating 100% of their overall budget to ads promoting their travel brands. 

Airbnb, Inc. ad spend is up 560%  in comparison to last year, with their investment in TV advertising up over 1000% year-over-year. They have made significant investments in online video, broadcast, cable, OTT, podcast, and mobile advertising, all of which saw increased spending by over 1000% since last year. 

Spending on advertisements on Facebook went down, as did display ads and native advertisements.

This year, Airbnb, Inc. spent nearly $54 million on digital advertising, with nearly $44 million going towards online video ads, $6 million going towards Facebook ads, and $3 million going to OTT ads.

Airbnb spent over $51.5 million on TV advertisements, with $39 million allocated for cable ads and $11 million allocated for broadcasting ads. 

Below is a breakdown of Airbnb, Inc. spend thus far in 2021. MediaRadar can help you connect with 16 key contacts at Airbnb, Inc.

4. Royal Caribbean Group 

Royal Caribbean Group is another big advertiser in this category, dedicating 95% of their overall budget to ads promoting their travel brands. Royal Caribbean Group ad spend is up 9% in comparison to last year, with their spend in digital advertising up 245% year-over-year. 

Most of their spending was allocated for TV advertisements, with nearly $34 million spent on broadcasting ads and $7 million on cable ads.

This year, Royal Caribbean Group spent nearly $11 million on digital advertising, with over $7 million going towards online video ads and $27 thousand on mobile ads, a 926% and over 1000% increase in spending respectively.  They also invested in advertising campaigns with Snapchat and OTT .

Will this trend towards increasing digital advertising continue? Below is a breakdown of Royal Caribbean Group’s spend thus far in 2021. We predict they will likely have 3 upcoming RFPs issued. MediaRadar can help you connect with 22 key contacts Royal Caribbean Group.

5. Southwest Airlines Co. 

Southwest Airlines Co. is also one of the top advertisers in this category, dedicating 100% of their overall budget to ads promoting their travel brand. 

Southwest Airlines Co. ad spend is up 34%  in comparison to last year, with their spend in digital advertising up 103% YOY.  Most of their spending was allocated for digital advertisements, with a 405% increase in spending on online video ads.

This year, Southwest Airlines Co. spent over $28 million on digital advertising, with over $16 million going towards online video ads and $9 million on Facebook ads. 

They also spent $19 million in TV advertisements, with $11 million towards cable ads and $7 million towards broadcast ads. Southwest Airlines Co. also began investing in newspaper ads and increased their spending in OTT ads by over 1000%. 

Below is a breakdown of Southwest Airlines Co’s spend thus far in 2021. We predict they will likely have an upcoming RFP issued. MediaRadar can help you connect with 21 key contacts at Southwest Airlines Co.

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy. 

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How To Create Impactful Travel Business Marketing Ads For Different Platforms

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In 2023, digital ads are predicted to account for more than 66% of the total spend on global advertising. This goes to show just how impactful online advertising is, and how so many companies use it for increasing sales and revenue growth.

If you want to reach new customers fast, then running travel business marketing ads is the best way to do so.

A major benefit of running paid ad campaigns is that you can target the right audience and ensure that your business and booking pages are front and center of their buying journey.

And with so many different advertising channels and formats to choose from, you can be very specific about how you attract customers through travel advertising.

Not sure where to start? This guide will cover everything you need to know about preparing your first ad campaign.

What To Consider Before Pursuing Travel Advertising 

Before you start running travel business marketing ads, it's important to take a number of key considerations into account. This will help you create ads that are more effectively targeted in order to achieve a better ROI.

Know Your Audience 

First, you need to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is. This is essential if your ads are going to reach the right people.

The great thing about running online ads is that you can access very detailed targeting options. This means you can be highly specific about what demographics, interests, and locations your ads display.

Start by understanding exactly who your prospective customers are. The best way to do this is to create detailed customer personas that outline elements like the target customers' age, location, interests, income, pain points, and more.

This way, you’ll be able to target the ads so that only relevant people see them. This will help your campaigns achieve e a better ROI.

Understand Your Target Audience’s Behavior 

You’ll also need to have a clear sense of how your target audience consumes information online. This is necessary for choosing the right platforms to run travel advertising campaigns on.

An important aspect of this is understanding the customer journey and the different steps they would take from discovering your brand to becoming a customer. If you focus your ads on platforms where your audience isn't active, your ads won't end up driving conversions.

Being Aware Of Your Ad Budget 

Paid advertising campaigns cost money, so you need to set aside a clear budget accordingly. Of course, your aim is to generate more money from the campaigns than they cost, i.e, to achieve a positive ROI.

Understand the different ways you pay for ads (usually PPC ), and establish a budget for this. You should also be clear on what your ideal return on investment would be for your ads to be profitable.

Best Types Of Travel Business Marketing Ads 

The great thing about travel business marketing ads is that you have loads of different platforms and ad formats to choose from. This gives you plenty of options for effectively targeting your ideal customers, regardless of what their online habits are.

Let’s break down some of the best platforms and ad formats that travel businesses can use.

Google Ads 

When it comes to online advertising, Google Ads remain the most popular. This makes sense seeing as Google is generally the first place people will go to to discover businesses or experiences.

Google offers a variety of different ad formats:

Search Ads 

These are the text ads that display at the top of Google search results. You bid on relevant keywords to have these ads displayed.

Display Ads 

These are ads that include images that display on other websites outside of the search engine.

Video Ads 

Video ads that appear on YouTube (more on this later).

Shopping Ads 

Ads that list products on Google search.

Local Ads 

Ads on Google that send customers to a physical location.

Smart Ads 

Automated ad campaigns that run on Google and across the web.

Discovery Ads 

These ads run across Google’s different feeds.

For travel business marketing ads, the best approach is generally search ads. These are the most common forms of Google ads, and they display similarly to regular Google search results.

Using these ads is a fast way of reaching the top of the SERP.

Your ideal customers are probably going onto Google and searching for something along the lines of “kayak tour near me”. Being savvy about the relevant target keywords can help your ad appear on top of this search query. This is a highly effective way to attract a lot more customers.

Facebook Ads 

Facebook Ads are an extremely popular option for running travel ad campaigns. Consider how much data Facebook holds on its users. This gives you a lot of room to be really specific about how you're going to target the right people.

Many different types of Facebook ad campaigns exist, such as:

Image Ads 

Image ads include a still image with a CTA.

This refers to a video with a CTA.

Instant Experience Ads 

Full-screen ads that include interactive, multimedia options.

Carousel Ads 

Ads that can feature up to 10 images and videos in a swipe-through carousel format, including a CTA.

Lead Ads 

Ads that include a lead generation form to collect email addresses.

Dynamic Ads  

Personalized ads that connect your product catalog with your Facebook Events Manager and Facebook Pixel. This lets you display ad content to users who also viewed the page or product on your website.

Stories Ads 

Ads that appear inside Facebook Stories.

Messenger Ads 

Ads displayed in Facebook Messenger. You can also use these on Instagram and Whatsapp.

Image ads, video ads, and carousel ads are some of the best options for travel businesses, as they let you display your travel experiences in an eye-catching and engaging format. Be sure to use a relevant CTA (like “Book Now”) to increase your conversions.

YouTube Ads 

YouTube is owned by Google, so YouTube Ads are Google video ads (as mentioned above).

Video is the most engaging form of content. Running video ads can be a practical way to grab the viewer's attention. It also lets you display a lot more than images. For travel businesses, this gives you the ideal opportunity to show off your travel experiences and destinations to entice users into booking tours.

Running these ads isn't as easy as other formats, as you’ll need to create quality video content. Bidding on video ads can also get expensive.

Instagram Ads 

Instagram is owned by Meta, so Instagram ads and Facebook ads are managed through the same platform. If you run ads on Facebook, those ads can also run on Instagram at the same time.

Instagram and Facebook ads work in much the same way. Although Instagram also offers ads for its unique features, like Reel Ads, Stories Ads, and Shopping Ads.

It's important to understand your audience and how they interact with each different platform in order for your ads to be most effective.

Twitter Ads 

If your target customers are on Twitter, this could also be a compelling medium for running paid ad campaigns. Twitter lets you run ads in a few different formats, including:

These ads look like standard text-based Tweets.

A single image is displayed in the ad.

These are ads that display a video.

Up to six images are displayed in a swipe-through carousel format.

Moment Ads 

This option allows you to curate a collection of Tweets to tell a story.

Retargeting Ads 

Retargeting is a type of ad strategy that can be run on Google Ads and Facebook Ads. The idea is to show relevant content to people who have already interacted with your website.

For example, a person visits your site, looks at a tour page, and then leaves. You can run retargeting ads (powered by tracking pixels), to then display an ad for that same tour page to the user on different websites.

This is a fantastic strategy for selling more tours, as the people who see retargeting ads have already shown an interest in your business, so they’re more likely to make a purchase.

Tips For Creating Travel Business Marketing Ads 

Once you’ve established what ad platform is best for your travel business, you’ll need to make sure your ads stand out.

Here are a few tips and tactics to keep in mind when creating your ad campaigns.

Use A Compelling CTA 

This is an essential rule for any effective ad campaign, regardless of the platform or ad format you're using.

Your ad exists to drive conversions and to achieve that you need to have a clear call to action (CTA). make sure this CTA is simple and compelling, and that it makes sense for your ad campaign goals.

Optimize Your URL 

It’s crucial that you use a URL for your ad campaigns that align with your ad messaging and CTA. If you're running search ads, the user won't be very interested if they see a long URL that doesn't seem relevant. Make sure that your URL structure aligns with the objective the user has.

Optimize Your Landing Page For Conversions 

Your ad may be the ultimate tool for attracting a lot of clicks and driving traffic to your landing page. However, none of this will matter if your landing page isn't properly optimized for conversions.

Make sure the page you send traffic to is relevant to your ad, and that it includes all of the details and information a user will be looking for. Make sure your CTA is clear, and that you don't require too much information from the user in any forms on the page.

This will most likely be your tour booking page. By using the right travel booking software , you’ll be able to create a more optimized booking page for a better user experience.

Make Your Ads Visually Appealing 

Your ads should stand out and be visually appealing. If you're running social media ads, your goal is to stop people from scrolling and grabbing their attention.

This means you should try to include strong visual elements, and refrain from making your ads too text-heavy. Try to clearly communicate the value of your ad in a line or two.

If you run video ads, keep the videos short and try to grab attention from the first second.

If you're running text-based search ads, be very careful about creating your headline. This needs to be simple, but impactful.

Test Your Ads 

A recommended strategy for running travel business marketing ads is to test, update, and optimize your ads.

By running A/B tests on your ads, you’ll be able to implement the most effective ads that offer the best conversion rates and ROI. The more you test and optimize, the better your ad performance will be.

Conclusion 

With the right travel business marketing ads, you’ll be able to attract a lot more customers and generate more sales. Once you establish what ads make the most sense for your marketing goals and target audience, it is a highly effective way to increase your tour bookings.

If you're looking for more travel industry tips and resources, then take a look at WeTravel Academy . We have created an extensive library of guides, courses, webinars, articles, and more, to help travel industry professionals grow their businesses.

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The Ultimate Playbook for Travel Advertising: Taboola’s Data-Backed Creative Strategies and Recommendations

The  global tourism industry grew by over 40%  in 2022 after steep drops in 2020 and 2021. And it’s expected to rise another 14% in 2023, reaching nearly $2.29 trillion.

Now, how can advertisers take advantage of this travel boom and increase revenue? By reaching consumers with optimized campaigns that speak to their needs and wanderlust.

That’s where the  Taboola Creative Playbook: Travel  comes in — built just for advertisers of booking sites, airlines, hotels, tourism boards, and travel products.

The Taboola Creative Shop  — a global team of experts and strategists — pulled readership trends, insights, and engagement data from our network of over 9,000 premium publisher properties and 5.6 billion travel pageviews. And they compiled it all into the ultimate creative guide for travel marketers.

Download Taboola's Travel Creative Playbook

Here’s just some of what they found:

• Convey ease and inspiration for travel.  Use your ads to share how your product or services can make the travel experience easier and more convenient, and share tips and offers for specific trips.
• Write first-person headlines.  Craft ad titles written from the perspective of a real traveler, often in the form of a review.
• Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) to increase clicks.  DKI automatically customizes ad copy  to each user based on specifics like their location or device. For example, you can use DKI to personalize headlines like “People in [Los Angeles] Love These Weekend Travel Tips.”
• Include suggested calls to action (CTAs).  Taboola recommends travel advertisers use CTAs like “Book Now,” “Get Offer,” and “Read More” to drive ad clicks.
• Make it all-inclusive.  Put pricing and saving opportunities front-and-center by highlighting actual travel costs, savings opportunities, and added benefits. For example: “These Affordable All-Inclusives Are Under $400 Plus Bonus Perks.”
• Add visuals and social proof to your landing pages.  Improve on-page engagement with moving images, GIFs, and videos. Also, add testimonials and featured press snippets to build trust and credibility.

Ready to help your travel ad campaigns take flight with data-backed strategies for enhanced performance? Download the  Taboola Creative Playbook: Travel to learn more.

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A Travel Marketer’s Guide to Programmatic Display

Learn how programmatic display works and what makes it so successful.

You’re browsing online and found a pair of shoes you have to have. But the phone rings, or your children need help with their virtual school, and you forget to make the purchase. However, for the next few days, those shoes pop up in the banner ads of other websites as you catch up on the news, or check out Instagram. This is called retargeting, and is just one way that programmatic display advertising works.

How did we get here?

To understand programmatic display, let’s first look at how advertising worked before. Advertisers would purchase space in magazines, newspapers, brochures, and other places where they thought their customer would be. It was difficult to track who saw your ads or whether your ads had any impact.

Then, as the internet increasingly moved into consumer’s homes, you’d buy an ad on Yahoo! Travel, for example, and again, hope that the user was interested in your destination. This still wasn’t very accurate, and you continued to be unsure of how your advertising affected potential guests.

Programmatic advertising is one of the most effective ways to reach your traveler at the right time with the right message. Travel marketers are now able to accurately measure the ROI of their advertising.

So, how does programmatic advertising work?

First, you need to identify your target audience and your goal. Working with an advertising partner, they’ll set up targeting for your ideal audience and you can share your creatives or your partner can create them for you. Then, your partner can use real-time information to “bid” for website banner placements on your behalf. How interested the user is in your product, or the number of competing advertisers, to name a few, affects how much you pay to place the ad and “win” the auction for that user.

After the auction is won, the creatives are placed, all happening within mere seconds. You eliminate the guesswork with programmatic advertising–you’re bidding on ad space where you know your customers are organically browsing online.

Not only are you advertising to customers where they are, but programmatic display allows you to optimize in real-time, 24/7, to best meet your campaign goals. As a consumer, you see these ads daily when you’re online. Be it a standard display ad on desktop, a video ad on mobile, a native ad (sponsored content that blends in seamlessly within the page you’re viewing), or others, you’re constantly influenced by programmatic ads.

How does Sojern run programmatic display?

A traveler searches for a flight on American Airlines, one of Sojern’s global data partners. This consented information is passed back to Sojern, allowing us to receive this search data in real-time. Using this consented, non-personally identifiable information, Sojern is able to understand that the traveler is interested in your destination, and perhaps has even searched for your offering (or type of offering) before. Thus, they make an excellent audience for your advertisements, and Sojern serves them your messaging as that traveler browses the web.

Prospecting vs Retargeting  

Programmatic advertising utilizes both prospecting and retargeting tactics for optimal success. With prospecting, you’re getting your ads in front of new customers that haven’t engaged with your brand before.

Let’s use Best Western as an example. A traveler that fits Best Western’s audience visits Sojern’s data partner site (for example, booking a flight on American Airlines). Sojern immediately receives this data. The traveler does not book a hotel, but continues over to Travel + Leisure to dream about what to do on their trip. On travelandleisure.com, Sojern bids on ad space to serve this traveler an ad for a Best Western property. The traveler sees the ads and heads to bestwestern.com to find out more.

Check out Best Western McCarran Inn Achieves $19,542 in Direct Bookings in Just Four Months, with Sojern to learn more.  

But you shouldn’t stop there–98% of visitors won’t convert on their first site visit. Retargeting is typically what brings them back to complete a booking. Retargeting users who have engaged with your ads or visited your website is the best way to get in front of highly qualified leads.

Let’s use Blue Hawaiian Helicopters as an example. A visitor lands on Blue Hawaiian Helicopters’ website and doesn’t convert. Later, the visitor surfs other sites. Sojern sees these actions and serves them a Blue Hawaiian Helicopters ad. Reengaged with a relevant offer, the visitor goes back to the Blue Hawaiian Helicopters’ website and books a trip for two.

Check out Blue Hawaiian Helicopters and Sojern Partner to Drive an 8X ROI While Scaling Spend to learn more.

What are the benefits of programmatic display  .

• Captivate your potential customers, especially when testing new ideas like HTML5 (animated ads) over static ads.
• Drive direct bookings and deliver awareness and loyalty.
• Re-engage travelers who visited your site or interacted with an ad. Remember, only 2% of visitors convert on their first site visit.
• Large selection of ad creatives to engage at every stage of the funnel, from dream to booking.

How is success measured?

At the end of the day, we find the most important thing for travel marketers is to drive direct bookings or brand awareness. The gamut of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you might use to get you there can vary based on your specific campaign needs. Some of these terms may sound familiar, for example, you may measure success based on a Cost Per Action (CPA) or paying for the action someone completes, be it downloading a white paper, filling out the contact us form, making a booking, or whatever else you deem valuable to help you meet your goals.

You may opt for a Click-Through Rate (CTR) KPI which is measuring campaign success on the number of clicks your ad sees. The average CTR for programmatic display is around .1%. We also like to remind travel marketers how important View-Through attribution can be. Think of this model as the “billboard effect”. Recall a time you were driving down the interstate and you see a billboard with your favorite dish. You weren’t craving it, but you find yourself in the parking lot of that restaurant three days later to try it. You didn’t go right away, but you did go within a short enough time frame that we can agree the billboard influenced you.

The same goes for programmatic display and marketing to travelers. For example, a traveler books a hotel room in Albuquerque. Later, they receive an ad for a hot air balloon ride attraction in Albuquerque. The traveler is busy working and is unable to click through to the ad and complete the booking but stores that information away. Days later, they go to the attraction’s website to book reservations directly. They were influenced by seeing the ad.

You can measure success purely on Return on Investment (ROI) , time spent on site, page views, completed video views, and more. Whatever your KPI, keep your bottom line and goals in mind.

Check out the Introduction to Programmatic Display for Travel Marketing presentation to get a look at the types of ads you can implement and best practices for your ad creatives.

Want to listen, not read? We’ve got a Programmatic Display 101 webinar that goes through all of this in detail.

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Our digital ad experience with Sojern has been nothing short of top-notch. Valencia Hotel Group tends to move quickly with various strategies, A/B testing, and consistency exploring the digital space. The creative team at Sojern works alongside with us to deliver ads that speak to our brand in a timely fashion. Sojern works very effectively with keeping our lines of communication open and being aware of our internal deadlines. When the digital ads are presented to us, the team at Valencia Hotel Group is consistently pleased with the designs delivered. They have been an amazing strategic partner.

"My experience with Sojern design team was very smooth and efficient. The example/template provided was very helpful, to explain what we were looking for. Based on all brand elements (ie: fonts, colors, tagline…) and a selection of pictures I provided, they were able to put together a very nice and well-balanced ad selection."

"It was an absolute pleasure working with the entire team at Sojern. We were looking for a simple way to reach potential guests on social media, and Sojern provided a simple solution. They answered all our questions quickly and put together well-designed ads that the entire staff was thrilled with and did it quickly."

"Sojern’s ad creative offering is great! For agencies or advertisers who do not have the ability to provide their own creative, Sojern offers complimentary ad creative with media buy-in. The ad creative process is seamless and turnaround times are exceptional."

"Thanks to Sojern's Reputation Manager, we can communicate with guests effectively, identify problems promptly, and resolve guest issues instantly. Instead of negative experiences, we turn them into opportunities to enhance their impression."

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The Importance of Tourism Advertising

Navigating today’s highly competitive and ever-changing tourism industry is no simple feat — you need to stand out from a constantly expanding crowd to be successful. That’s why effective tourism advertising is essential to any successful tourism brand. It’s not only important to create captivating ad campaigns and impactful messaging to engage potential customers but also to ensure that those campaigns reach the right audience. 

But how do you make sure your travel advertising is effective? While there is no one-size-fits-all solution for marketing for travel advertising, there are certain key elements to consider when advertising travel and tourism that can make all the difference. 

This blog will delve into the multifaceted realm of travel industry advertising, exploring the key components that make a campaign captivating and unforgettable. 

Understanding the Role of Advertising in Tourism Promotion

Advertising plays a pivotal role in tourism promotion, serving as the bridge that connects potential travelers with tourism products, destinations, and experiences. Its primary function is to generate awareness and interest in a specific location or service, ultimately influencing travel decisions and driving consumer action. 

Advertising in tourism promotion encompasses several key aspects:

• Increasing Visibility and Awareness: Advertising tourism destinations helps increase their visibility by promoting attractions, accommodations, activities, special events and other offerings to potential travelers. Creating memorable and engaging advertisements can capture your target audience’s attention and generate interest. This increased awareness can lead to higher demand and more bookings.
• Targeting Specific Audiences: Today’s adtech allows travel and tourism brands to target specific market segments based on demographics, interests, and travel motivations. Tailoring advertising campaigns to resonate with these specific groups enables businesses to attract the right type of visitors, increasing the likelihood of bookings and conversions. Recent advances in AI-driven data science tools enable you to gain deeper insights into your own data, target predictively modeled custom audiences, and optimize campaigns in real time to ensure you’re engaging with relevant, ideal audiences.
• Building Brand Image and Reputation: Effective advertising helps establish a strong brand image and reputation for a destination or travel brand. Businesses can create a lasting impression on potential travelers by consistently conveying a unique brand identity and promoting positive experiences. A strong brand image and reputation will then encourage travelers to choose you over competitors, leading to increased bookings and customer loyalty.
• Communicating Unique Selling Propositions (USPs):  Advertising enables you to highlight unique selling points and differentiate yourself from competitors. Showcasing the distinct features, benefits, and experiences that set you apart can entice potential travelers to visit or use your services.
• Educating Potential Travelers: With informative and engaging content, you can provide valuable information about tourist attractions, local culture, customs, and other considerations that are important to travelers planning their trips. This educational aspect helps travelers make informed decisions and increases the likelihood that they will choose a particular destination or business based on their interests and needs.
• Staying Competitive: The tourism industry is fast-paced and dynamic, making advertising crucial for businesses seeking to stay competitive. Staying up-to-date with the latest trends and adapting advertising strategies can help you maintain relevance and appeal to potential travelers. 
• Measuring Success and Optimizing Strategies: Digital advertising campaigns provide valuable data and insights that your business can use to measure the success of its tourism promotion efforts. You can evaluate the effectiveness of your advertising strategies by analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates. This analysis enables you to make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns, ensuring that you continue to effectively promote your offerings and attract potential travelers.

Why Is Tourism Advertising Important?

Effective advertising is obviously essential for any tourism business that wishes to stay ahead of its competition, promote its brand, and thrive. Here are a few reasons why it’s so important to keep your tourism advertising ahead of the curve today:

The Travel and Tourism Industry Is Extremely Competitive

With countless tourist destinations, hotels, resorts, tourism agencies, and attractions vying for the attention of potential travelers, differentiating yourself to stand out from the crowd and capture a share of the market is vital.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there is significantly increased demand for travel and experiences across all audiences – and brands are responding, saturating the market with messaging. In such a competitive environment, a sound advertising strategy can help you capture the attention of potential visitors and convince them to choose your destination or service over another. The ever-increasing popularity of digital platforms has also intensified the competition, as businesses now have access to a global audience and can target their advertising efforts more precisely than ever before.

Tourists Are Always on the Hunt for One-of-a-Kind Experiences

In an age where travelers are increasingly driven by a desire for unique, authentic, and memorable experiences, tourism brands must showcase their ability to provide these exceptional experiences to attract and retain visitors.

Tourism marketing plays a pivotal role in highlighting the distinctive offerings of a destination or service by showcasing its unique attributes, such as local culture, history, natural wonders, or exclusive activities. By effectively communicating these characteristics through advertising, you can spark the curiosity of potential travelers and persuade them to choose your offerings over those of competitors. Today’s formats and tech-enabled creative capabilities can help you convey the power of a destination or experience, with high-impact creative, augmented reality integrations, interactive video, and more.

Advertising Is a Must To Reach International Audiences

In an increasingly globalized marketplace, destinations and businesses within the travel industry must extend their reach beyond local markets to attract visitors from all over the world. While local tourists are an important source of repeat income, international travelers bring invaluable cultural exchange and can generate a much higher economic impact.

Tech-enabled creative and advanced targeting capabilities can be especially effective at targeting international audiences, finding behaviors and interests that help you determine the right channels, formats and messaging to resonate across cultural and geographical boundaries. By crafting compelling tourism-related marketing messages that resonate with a global audience, your business can create brand awareness and encourage potential visitors to choose your offerings.

Keeping Up an Active Online Presence Is Paramount to Business Success

Digital marketing is one component of an active online presence, which is crucial for business success in today’s digital landscape. With most travelers relying heavily on the Internet for researching, planning, and booking their trips, businesses in the tourism industry must prioritize their online presence to stay competitive, attract potential customers, and foster customer loyalty.

An active online presence ensures that your business remains visible and discoverable to potential customers. Being responsive and informative by engaging on organic social media and providing in-depth content about topics such as your specific offerings, destination, and local cultures will help establish trust and credibility among potential customers and encourage them along their customer journey. Showcasing positive reviews, testimonials, and engaging content demonstrates expertise, reliability, and commitment to providing exceptional experiences, encouraging potential customers to choose your business over competitors.

6 Tips for Successful Tourism Advertising

Here are a few tips to ensure that your campaigns capture the attention of potential travelers and stand out from the crowd:

1. Use the Right Advertising Tools and Services

Successful tourism advertising requires utilizing the appropriate tools and services to reach the right audience effectively. While traditional methods, such as print ads and billboards, still have value, digital channels like social media, search engine marketing, and programmatic advertising provide invaluable targeting capabilities and performance metrics to ensure you’re reaching precise audiences and getting the most out of every spend.

For example,  Google Ads allows businesses to target specific keywords and demographics, enabling them to reach an audience that is already actively interested in relevant destinations or services. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer advertising options that allow businesses to reach a wide range of users, including those who have shown interest in travel and tourism, by basing targeting on extensive demographic and interest-based behavioral data. Additionally, programmatic advertising enables placement on numerous relevant channels and outlets such as tourism-focused websites, blogs, apps, and even streaming video content and audio. On social media, working with travel influencers can also help you gain exposure to a highly engaged and relevant audience. 

Take, for instance, a hotel targeting young travelers. Partnering with a popular travel blog or influencer can help the hotel gain exposure to an audience of young, adventurous travelers who are likely to be interested. The hotel may also prioritize social media advertising on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where their target audience is most active. They could use visually appealing images or video ads showcasing unique experiences they offer and collaborate with influencers to increase reach and engagement. 

On the other hand, a luxury resort catering to an older demographic may prefer to focus on display ads on high-end travel publication websites, complementing their print ads in related magazines, or launching targeted email marketing campaigns.

2. Have a Solid Marketing Strategy in Place

A well-defined marketing strategy is essential for successful tourism advertising. This involves setting clear objectives, identifying your target audience – ideally using data science methodology to ensure accurate, objective analysis – determining your USP, and choosing the most effective channels for reaching your audience. Adtech tools like the machine learning technology leveraged by AUDIENCEX strategists can simplify this process, ensuring accurate and unbiased analysis and channel mix recommendations.

This process begins with outlining your goals and objectives, including increasing bookings, driving website traffic, or raising brand awareness. Next, define your target audience by considering age, income, interests, and travel preferences. This is where AI-driven data science tools can help ensure you’re working from objective fact rather than assumptions or unconscious biases. Finally, your USP should highlight what sets your offerings apart from those of competitors: a unique location, exceptional service, exclusive experiences, etc.

Once these elements are in place, you can select the most appropriate advertising channels based on your target audience’s preferences and habits. This is where unbiased media recommendations can help, ensuring that you’re operating from objective performance data based on extensive historical and real-time analysis.

For instance, a  destination marketing organization (DMO) aiming to attract more international visitors may set specific goals for increasing website traffic, social media engagement, and visitor numbers. It would then conduct research and employ data science analysis to understand the preferences and motivations of its target audience and develop a USP that sets its destination apart with a relevant point of interest, such as highlighting unique cultural experiences, stunning natural tourist attractions, or exceptional culinary offerings.

3. Build Tourism Campaigns That Resonate With Your Target Audience

Creating tourism campaigns that resonate with your target audience is key to successful advertising. This involves understanding their needs, desires, and motivations and crafting messages that speak directly to them.

An Expert’s Guide To the CTV Landscape

One approach to achieving this is by developing buyer personas, which are fictional representations of your ideal customers. These personas can help you understand your audience’s travel preferences, pain points, and decision-making process, enabling you to create campaigns that address their needs and showcase your offerings in a compelling way. These can also be informed by data science to ensure they are accurate to your most valuable segments.

Using storytelling, personalization, immersion and interactivity in your campaigns can particularly help you connect with your audience on an emotional level. Share real-life experiences of previous guests, highlight the unique aspects of your destination, or showcase local culture and history to create memorable and engaging content that resonates with potential customers.

4. Stay on Top of Tourism and Travel Trends

Keeping up-to-date with the latest tourism and travel trends is essential for successful advertising. This helps you stay relevant in a rapidly changing industry and enables you to identify new opportunities and adapt your digital campaigns accordingly.

Some popular sources for staying informed about travel trends include industry reports, tourism conferences, tourism boards, travel-focused websites, blogs, and social media. Additionally, monitoring your competitors’ activities and analyzing their marketing strategies can provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t in your particular niche. 

5. Enhance the Customer Experience

A positive customer experience is paramount to the success of your tourism marketing efforts. This includes providing exceptional service from the moment potential customers encounter your ads to the point when they complete their trip.

To enhance the customer experience, ensure your website is user-friendly, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. Provide detailed information about your offerings, including high-quality images, video ads, and testimonials from satisfied customers. Offer multiple booking options and payment methods to cater to different preferences and make the process seamless.

Additionally, consider implementing customer relationship management (CRM) tools to track and analyze customer interactions and preferences. This data can help you personalize your marketing efforts, improve customer service, and anticipate the needs of your guests, and can be helpful to build your first-party data and inform future analysis, audience modeling, and optimization.

6. Highlight the Value of Your Offerings

Lastly, successful tourism advertising involves demonstrating the value of your offerings to potential customers. This means showcasing the features of your destination or services and the benefits and unique experiences they provide.

Communicate how your offerings can meet the needs and desires of your target audience, whether they seek relaxation, adventure, cultural immersion, or something else entirely. Ensure that the message is tailored to the audience you are speaking to, as different travelers have different reasons to employ your services or visit a particular destination. Use compelling visuals and descriptions, as well as engaging interactivity where possible, to paint a vivid picture of what customers can expect when they choose your destination or services. And, of course, consider offering special promotions, discounts, or added-value packages to entice potential customers and demonstrate the value of your offerings.

Grow Your Business With HolisticTourism Advertising Campaigns

The importance of tourism advertising cannot be overstated in today’s highly competitive market. Businesses must partner with proficient advertising partners to stand out in a crowded landscape, promote unique offerings and experiences, attract potential travelers, and drive revenue.

AUDIENCEX is built to be an adaptable partner to help marketers navigate the digital landscape, access emergent technology, and achieve meaningful, measurable performance throughout the digital landscape. Our team has extensive experience with numerous travel, tourism, and hospitality brands, and we pair that expertise with seamless media access, AI-powered data science, holistic strategy and award-winning, tech-enabled creative services. With an in-depth understanding of the full-funnel marketing and data-enabled insight into each unique customer journey, we can deploy impactful, engaging campaigns to reach your ideal audience across channels, screens, and devices.

Contact us today to talk to a member of our team about your needs and goals. We’d love to explore how we can help you find the right audience, engage them effectively, and drive real results today.

Advertising

Experience new growth possibilities with Microsoft Advertising today >

Explore Travel Ads and inspire travelers to book now

COVID-19 is no longer stopping consumers from feeling comfortable traveling, 1 and you can reach those travelers right when they’re ready to book their next trip. With Travel Ads, increase bookings and entice customers right at their decision points. Leverage our travel advertising options available to display on Microsoft Bing search results pages, Bing Maps, and the Bing Travel Guide.

Drive more bookings with Travel Ads

Choose among our Travel Ads options:

Property Promotion Ads

Inspire and engage potential travelers looking to stay at a property like yours with a richly curated experience where you control the call-outs and images that appear in the ads. Discover the premium placements that inspire action and turn planners looking for specific locations or amenities into bookers. Learn more about Property Promotion Ads

Hotel Price Ads

Shorten the customer journey and secure bookings faster by providing the information planners are looking for: rates alongside hotel photos, directions, availability, reviews, and more. Explore how your campaigns can entice travelers at the point of decision. Learn more about Hotel Price Ads

Tours and Activities Ads

Increase awareness and drive bookings with this interactive premium ad type exclusive to Microsoft Bing. Offer travelers looking for activities in specific locations a contextually relevant search experience by showcasing images, current prices, tours and activities types, duration, and reviews. Learn more about Tours and Activities Ads

Property Promotion Ads offer premium placements to inspire action.

Secure bookings faster with Hotel Price Ads.

Increase awareness of your offers with Tours and Activities Ads.

10 best travel ads that will make you book your next vacation in seconds

November 10, 2023

As the world recovers from the pandemic, travelers are keener than ever to find their next vacation spot. And the companies’ and countries’ tourist offices are wasting no time trying to attract as many visitors as possible to their destinations. 

To show you some of the true gems in travel advertising, we’ve put together a list of the 10 best travel marketing campaigns that will make you want to book your next holiday ASAP. Plus, a little background on tourism marketing.

So let’s dig in!

What is tourism marketing?

Tourism marketing refers to strategically promoting travel destinations, attractions, and services to potential visitors. As part of tourism marketing, companies from the various aspects of the tourism industry develop targeted marketing campaigns on various channels to spread compelling messages to attract tourists.

Each tourism campaign aims to increase awareness, generate interest, and ultimately drive visits from local and international visitors.

10 best tourism marketing campaigns

Here are the ten best tourism campaigns and ads:

1. Switzerland – Yodel Ay Hee Hoo

Is there a better way to promote the countryside than by inviting various people from a train station to spontaneously take a day off from work and enjoy the beautiful and peaceful Alps?

That’s exactly what the Switzerland tourist office did in one of their endearing tourism campaigns and sent the important message of how often we forget to take a step back to relax from our busy daily schedules. 

The creators made the travel ad even more authentic by live streaming from the Alps, with an elderly man inviting everyone from the Zurich train station to come join him. 

Intending to inspire travelers, this innovative approach caught daily commuters off guard and made them question whether to take a free daily ticket to the Alps or to continue their regular trip to work. 

2. Travel Oregon – Only Slightly Exaggerated 

Whether you’re watching an ad for the latest toothpaste or a fantastic new trip destination, they all have one thing in common – they exaggerate how great they are. 

Travel Oregon used this common motive in their “Only Slightly Exaggerated” tourism campaign to paint Oregon as a unique, dreamy, cartoon-like destination. 

The ad shows that Oregon mountains are more magical than anywhere else, rivers hide secrets never seen, and the streets offer entertainment like nowhere else. Just like in your childhood dreams! 

3. Iceland – OutHorse Your Emails

Being able to disconnect from work when on vacation is something that many of us struggle with these days. Luckily, Iceland found a perfect solution for the problem – outsourcing your emails to Icelandic horses. All you have to do for that is come to Iceland, and the rest will be taken care of.

This quirky ad is an amazing example of how creative and funny countries can get in attracting new tourists. 

4. Sweden – Spellbound

Have you heard of Dark Tourism? If you’re a fan of horror stories and mystic movies, then you certainly did! And you’ll absolutely love what Visit Sweden released this year as an attempt to attract a specific target audience with their unique tourist marketing campaign.

Their Spellbound campaign invites mystique lovers to Sweden to explore beautiful nature while enjoying the unique experience of listening to a chilling audio story. The campaign was set up so that a Spotify playlist would only become available to visitors once they came to a specific location. 

This way, they had to visit the location to get the unforgettable and scary experience. Who would’ve thought that horror stories could be such a great way to advertise a country?

5. Tourism Ireland – What Fills Your Heart?

You can never go wrong with a heartwarming tourist marketing campaign that celebrates good spirits, brings nostalgia, and connects people to the nature and the culture of one place. Tourism Ireland managed to do all that in one of their recent campaigns titled “What Fills Your Heart?”

In a series of ads with famous Irish actresses in the main roles, including Derry Girls and Sharon Horgan , the Irish tourist board told the story of Irish history, culture, and customs. 

Source: youtube.com

6. Vienna – What Does A Belly Do In Vienna?

There is no better place for a hungry and heartbroken belly to indulge in life’s beauties than Vienna. That’s the story Vienna’s tourist board told in their highly creative and surrealistic short film. 

As the belly walks through the streets of Vienna, trying to forget his dear human who didn’t treat him well, we get a glimpse of what tourists can see and enjoy during their next visit to the city. 

The creator’s unique approach to promoting Austria’s capital wins the creativity award and is an excellent magnet for new tourists. 

7. Only in Scotland – Why Scotland Needs You

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries struggled to attract tourists. People were concerned about their safety and if the location could provide memorable experiences despite numerous restrictions. 

At that time, Scotland released a beautiful ad showing why Scotland needs people while showing tourists why they’re the ones who actually need a holiday in this astonishing place. The ad is in the spirit of hope, serenity, and relaxation – everything people needed during the pandemic. 

8. KLM – Live Hologram Bar

Imagine spending hours at the airport talking to almost anyone in the world. You could learn about different cultures, what to visit in your next destination, or chat to make the time go by faster. 

In their 2019 marketing campaign, KLM placed hologram bars in airports around the world and allowed travelers from different parts of the world to connect and exchange their stories. Not a bad way to spend your time waiting for your next plane. 

9. Croatia Full of Life – Ode To Joy

What is a summer vacation in Croatia other than your own yearly ode to joy? 

This famous symbolic motif is what Croatian Tourist Board chose for the promotional campaign in 2012, and earned a prestigious travel industry ‘Oscars’ award, ‘Das Goldene Stadttor,’ at the International Tourism Film Festival. 

Beethoven’s inspiring music narrative, led by cellist Ana Rucner carries the video highlighting the rich cultural, historical, and natural heritage of Croatia as well as many Croatian beauties. 

10. Chicago Not in Chicago

In 2022, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot announced the launch of the “Chicago Not in Chicago” campaign to show how Chicago has inspired many other iconic cities worldwide. 

This creative campaign featured city tour buses across major US cities where people got a tour of Chicago instead of the city they were visiting. And by first confusing and then entertaining the visitors, the campaign sent a powerful message that every city has a story – a Chicago story. 

Final thoughts

When it comes to travel marketing campaigns, the sky’s the limit. Countries and companies can use many different sources of inspiration to tell unique stories about a location or a travel service. 

And these travel marketing campaigns are a great example of how creativity combined with emotional appeal is a recipe for success. The only question remains: “In which of these locations did you book your next vacation?”

Advertising

7 best Nike ads and marketing campaigns that get our approval

The greatest storyteller of all times? In my view it isn’t Roald Dahl, Stephen King, or Banksy.  It’s Nike. The company consistently manages to inspire the young, old, and everyone in between. Their ads are fun, engaging, and personal in a way that hits you right in the feels.

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Whether we like it or not, TikTok is becoming a serious advertising channel for more and more brands. To help you get in the TikTok game, we bring you a selection of the 10 best TikTok ads, with a little background story about each successful campaign.

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OOHs and ahhs: 18 best billboard ads that made the world stop and stare

Out of home advertising (OOH) can be a breath of fresh air in the constant chatter about data, social strategies, and geotargeting tactics. And when looking at the best ads of all time, billboards take up many of the top spots. Because billboard advertising is created for everyone passing by, it has no choice but to be strikingly simple. And that’s one of the key components of a great ad. 

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Advertising that drives big growth.

Need more eyeballs on your destination, airline, hotel, car, or rail marketing campaigns? Look no further — we’re the Don Draper of the travel tech world. Travelport+ grows your reach and boosts brand awareness through hyper-targeted ad solutions. Advertise with us and you’ll enjoy access to 234,000 travel bookers globally. And, you’ll get support from our team of experts who’ll make your ads shine brighter than a billboard on Times Square. The proof is in the pudding — you’ll earn more and get ROI that’s 5.5x higher than other providers.

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We make your advertising budget work harder for you. Travelport+ lets you boost the position of your ad in search results, driving more product interest and brand awareness, maximizing seasonal sales, and securing more bookings.

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MOSCOW AIRPORT ADVERTISING

Quickly get pricing for digital, static and experiential media products in moscow (dme) airport., get started here, learn about moscow dme airport advertising.

• [email protected]
• (213) 342-1760
• Airport Advertising
• Airports Served
• Moscow DME Airport
• Moscow Airport Advertising
• DME Airport Travelers Profile

DME Advertising Media

Airport wifi sponsorship, baggage claim area.

• Business Network

Digital Screen Network

• Digital Spectaculars
• Large Format Signs
• Mini-Spectaculars
• Security Tray Bins
• Spectaculars

Call us today at (213) 342-1760 or Email us at [email protected]

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25+ airport media formats, moscow (dme) airport advertising.

DME is one of the two main airports serving Moscow and is managed by East Line Group, though the actual runways are run by the State. The airport is the biggest in Russia and is also the fastest-growing airport in the country. It’s also the main hub for the country and been named one of Eastern Europe’s top airports four times by Skytrax.

Moscow Domodedovo International Airport is found just 42 kilometers from Moscow’s city center, in the Domodedovsky District of the capital. It’s easily reached by rail or highway and serves around 30 million passengers annually. The airport is the hub for several airlines, including Globus, VIM, Transaero and S7. It’s also the only airport in Russia that is certified for the Airbus A380. Airlines from around the world take passengers to national and international destinations.

DME airport advertising is popular, with 30 million pairs of eyes moving through the dual terminals every year. Static ads for the airport include wall wraps and posters, as well as experiential advertising possibilities. Other Moscow Domodedovo International Airport advertising opportunities include digital ads, which may be even more effective as more people connect via mobile devices.

Moscow DME Airport Travelers Profile

Sources: Airports Council Informational

Who Advertises in Airports?

• American Airlines
• American Express
• Arizona State University
• Austrian Airlines
• Bank of America
• Barracuda Networks
• Bethany College
• Credit Suisse
• Focus Feature
• FX Networks
• Identity Guard
• InsideSales
• Pepperdine University
• SentinelOne
• Southwest Airlines
• Thomson Reuters
• United Airlines
• Universal Pictures
• Visit Las Vegas
• Warner Brothers
• Wells Fargo
• Western Union
• ZOHO CRMBMW

Capture 100% share of voice and guaranteed engagement! Moscow DME Airport sponsorship campaigns offer several screens of exclusive, high-impact interactions for your brand.

• Devices: Mobile, Tablet and Laptop (Android and iOS)
• Pricing Model: CPE, CPI and CPM
• Formats: App Download, Display, Video, Click-To-Visit, Email Collection, Poll Question, E-commerce Showcase, Social, Save The Date and Text Match.
• Production Estimate: $0
• Advertisers: Amazon, Rackspace, TransferWise, Marriott, and more.

Moscow DME Airport showcases Dioramas, Spectaculars and Tension Fabric Display in the baggage area.

• Type: Static and Digital
• Size: Varies
• Share of Voice: 100%
• Format: Static
• Production Estimate: $300-$1,500
• Advertisers: Prudential, Verizon, TheParking Spot, Oracle, and many more.

Overhead Banner

Capture 100% share of voice and guaranteed engagement! Moscow Airport offers multiple locations with high-impact overhead banner advertising displays.

• Type: Tension Fabric Displays
• Production Estimate: $1,000 - $3,500
• Advertisers: GMC, Lincoln, Universal Pictures, Zoho CRM, and more.

The Business Network & Club Lounges

This impactful network is specifically targeted to deliver advertisers an elusive audience of airport travelers: C-Suite executives, business decision-makers., and affluent frequent flyers. Reach the most exclusive business and luxury leisure travelers where no one else can. Executive Club Lounges represent an exclusive opportunity for delivering tailored marketing messages to a valuable and premium travelers.

• Type: Vertical, Digital, Exhibit, Banners and Product Placements.
• Share of Voice: 100% on Static. :10 Seconds out of :60 seconds loop
• Format: Static and full motion.
• Advertisers: Sony, Bose, Grey Goose, Jaguar, Lexus, and many more.

The Digital Network, which is comprised of fully-digital, high definition double-sided 70” LCD screens. Each unit is situated in head-on positions in order to guarantee that this premium advertising medium is seen by all arriving and departing passengers throughout DME.

• Type: Digital LCD Screens
• Size: 40“, 48”, 50” and 70”
• Share of Voice: :10 Seconds out of :60 seconds loop
• Format: Static and full motion
• Advertisers: Nissan, Verizon, Visit Las Vegas, IBM, and many more.

Digital Spectacular

Digital Spectaculars are intentionally located in the most densely populated areas of Moscow DME Airport.

• Type: Large Format Digital LCD Screens
• Advertisers: Accenture, Microsoft, SanDisk, Intel, Oracle, and many more.

Sleek, bright and sized right, these beautiful signs showcase your brand to millions every month. Located on walls, in concourses, arrival and public areas, and at key intersections of the airport, these large format signs bring your message to life.

• Type: Static
• Target: Baggage, Concourse, Terminal Connectors, and Ticketing.
• Production Estimate: $300-$600
• Advertisers: University of Texas, Samsung, Enterprise, Expedia, and more.

Mini-Spectacular

A large-scale variation of a classic advertising format, backlit Spectaculars deliver great passenger reach and impact. Mini-Spectaculars are strategically placed in main DME Airport arteries to catch traveler's eyes while they navigate to concourses and arrival areas.

• Formats: 5'h x 20'w, 4'h x 10'w, 7'h x 11'w, 5'h x 15'w, and 6'h x 6'w
• Production Estimate: $400-$700
• Advertisers: Dell, CA Technologies, Oracle and more.

Security Tray Bin

Since all passengers must go through security check points, these messages cannot be avoided and therefore guarantee 100% departing passenger visibility. Brand recognition and recall are much more likely when advertising serves a practical purpose and is helpful to passengers.

• Type: TSA Security Line Media
• Size: Fixed
• Target by: Airport and Terminal
• Advertisers: Arizona State University, Honda, Reebok, Zappos and more.

Spectacular

Reach your target audience in a big way with Spectaculars! Your message gets noticed as passengers walk to baggage claim, restaurants, shopping or their gate. Spectaculars are also located in great targeted locations like the Rental Car Facility and the Taxi line at Moscow Airport.

• Production Estimate: $500 - $1,200

Wall and window wraps deliver big impact to travelers and are strategically located in high traffic locations. They provide a “can’t miss” message for advertisers. Both large and small, wraps are a great option to show-off your brand or offer.

• Type: Wall Wrap Statics
• Production Estimate: $1,000 - $5,000
• Advertisers: Mail Chimp, HSBC, Sophos, Infor, Undertone, and more.

Did You Know?

Airport advertising is the only medium forecast to double its audience within the next 20 years.

The airport arena creates a positive pre-disposition toward brand communications.

Passengers believe advertising belongs within an airport.

Advertising in airports bestows a brand with international status, prestige and power.

Passengers express a desire for greater engagement with airport advertising.

Airport advertising is the only medium able to deliver a powerful and memorable universal brand experience across the globe.

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

Still have questions call us (213) 342-1760 or contact us below,, send us an email.

Boosting Revenue During Cultural Events: A New Era for Travel Marketing? 

Expedia Group + Skift

April 9th, 2024 at 10:00 AM EDT

If you’re heading to the latest stop on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, you will likely need to book a flight and hotel. Expedia Group recently unveiled new data highlighting how its advertising tools enhance visibility for travel partners on their sites and can augment partner revenue during popular cultural events.

Expedia Group

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

Is Taylor Swift the most important person in travel? Skift posed this question in a recent article , reporting that U.S. cities lucky enough to get a slot on Swift’s Eras Tour have seen monthly hotel room revenues up over 7 percent on average, according to analysts at Bernstein. 

Travel marketers know that popular cultural events like the Eras Tour, the Super Bowl, Wimbledon, and Formula 1 racing can significantly boost revenue — but how can they ensure they’re maximizing the potential of these events to increase visibility and capture demand?

SkiftX spoke with Jennifer Andre, vice president of business development at Expedia Group Media Solutions, to gain insight into how travel marketers can take advantage of the latest event tourism trends, also known as tour tourism. 

“Combining travel with events has returned after the pandemic,” Andre said. “ One of our recent surveys tells us 70 percent of customers are more likely to travel to a concert outside of their own town, with 40 percent saying they’d travel to a concert as an excuse to visit a place. Of course, if travelers are going to an event, they’ll likely need a way to get there and a place to stay — that’s where our partner advertising solutions come in.” 

Leveraging TravelAds and Flight Sponsored Listings

Expedia Group’s TravelAds and Flight Sponsored Listings are strategically designed for performance marketing, capturing travelers’ attention precisely when deciding to book rather than merely for brand awareness. TravelAds offer targeted advertising solutions for lodging, while Flight Sponsored Listings are tailored for airline seat bookings. 

“These tools secure premium spots in our search algorithms, ensuring partners can prominently position their offerings at the crucial decision-making moment,” Andre said. “For instance, a hotel located near a concert venue in Singapore can be featured at the top of search results and include messaging that directly appeals to potential concert-goers.” 

This targeting leverages real-time search data, enabling hotels and airlines to pinpoint and attract the right travelers based on their search behaviors. Similarly, Flight Sponsored Listings provide airlines the chance to target specific origin and destination points relevant to events. 

According to Andre, properties running a TravelAds campaign see 90 percent more visibility and 120 percent more bookings versus non-enrolled properties, on average, globally. 1

“What sets our approach apart is the comprehensive use of first-party data, allowing for highly targeted advertising that meets travelers exactly where they are in their booking journey, with the right message at the right time, leading to effective conversions,” Andre said. “This focus on first-party data is a cornerstone of our strategy, offering a unique advantage in reaching and engaging travelers effectively.” 

Impactful Event Tourism Moments From 2023

Local markets saw a significant boost in their economies from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, including her homecoming stop in Nashville in May 2023. According to Andre, Nashville hotels that ran TravelAds campaigns in Nashville during this time saw an average boost of 5 percent in both revenue and bookings compared to hotels in the city that didn’t use TravelAds. 

During last summer’s Wimbledon tennis tournament in London, some hotels using TravelAds saw an average boost of almost 30 percent compared to other hotels in the area. 

“Wimbledon attracts a vast audience, offering a prime opportunity for local businesses,” Andre said. “For instance, Imperial London Hotels in the surrounding area of Wimbledon leveraged TravelAds to capitalize on this event, resulting in a 30 percent increase in their room bookings through Expedia.” 2

Hotels in U.S. cities with major sporting events are also benefiting. During the 2023 Super Bowl, hotels using TravelAds in Phoenix saw an average boost in revenue of just over 15 percent over the weekend. This year, hotels in Las Vegas saw an average 5 percent boost in revenue during Super Bowl 2024 when enrolled in TravelAds over that weekend. 

How Travel Marketers Can Get In On the Action

Andre says travel marketers can maximize the use of Expedia Group’s tools to capture demand during these high-profile events or whenever it makes the most sense for their business.

“The first step is to base decisions on solid data and real-time travel intent,” Andre said. “Partners can utilize our expertise to identify and bridge gaps between search interest and actual bookings,” Andre said. “This approach allows us to pinpoint when and where to intervene — whether it’s targeting remote workers for longer stays or capturing demand from last-minute bookers.” 

With the shift to a cookieless world, Expedia Group’s first-party data ensures that partners can still effectively reach their target audience at the right moment in their purchase journey without needing to revamp ad campaigns or marketing strategies.

“For instance, our TravelAds tool features an automated bidding tool powered by artificial intelligence, ideal for smaller hotels lacking extensive marketing resources,” Andre said. “By automating the bidding process, this tool ensures optimal spend for maximum market exposure without the risk of over- or under-investing. It’s a great way for hotel partners to drive incremental room nights and revenue.” 

For airline partners, Expedia Group uses its data to proactively assist them in selling seats on particular routes, making it a strategic tool for filling flights, gaining a competitive edge in the market, and boosting visibility during important seasonal moments. 

For example, Etihad Airways leveraged Flight Sponsored Listings to entice American tourists with winter getaways to Abu Dhabi and the Maldives. Using the tool, Etihad saw bookings from the U.S. to both destination airports increase by almost 5 percent, totaling just over a 30 percent boost in gross bookings. 3

“Partnering on Flight Sponsored Listings means tapping into over 300 million average monthly flight searches on Expedia,” Andre said. “Airlines can secure a premium position in search results and use custom copy to encourage travelers to book.” 

What’s Next for Event Tourism? 

Event and tour tourism is set to continue into 2024. According to recent Expedia Group data, travel searches increased by over 250 percent year-over-year when stops along the Asian and Australian legs of Taylor Swift’s 2024 Eras Tour were announced. Similarly, when the 2024 European tour dates were announced, travel searches for May to August 2024 increased by nearly 65 percent for cities with corresponding tour stops.

“We’re excited to continue working with our partners during 2024’s biggest cultural moments — from major world music tours to global sporting events  — to offer them our full suite of advertising options and to elevate their listing when they need it the most,” Andre said. 

To learn more about Expedia Group’s portfolio of advertising solutions for hotels, airlines, destination marketing organizations, car rentals, cruise, and more, click here .

This content was created collaboratively by Expedia Group and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX . 

• 1st Party Expedia Group Booking Data. POS Brand: Expedia Group Global. Dates: July 2021 – July 2022. ↩︎
• Stays at Imperial Hotels, London UK, between July 3-16 2023. ↩︎
• Flights booked from Oct 1, 2023 – Feb 23, 2024 compared to Oct 1, 2022 – Feb 23, 2023. ↩︎

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Tags: booking , cultural tourism , events , expedia group , SkiftX Creative Studio , SkiftX Showcase: OTAs , SkiftX Showcase: Technology , travel marketing

Expedia Group Media Solutions

Reach travelers who like to maximize their trips

Expedia is the go-to site for millions of travelers around the world who want to get the most out of their trip. It’s an engaged audience that’s actively searching and booking travel.

Monthly Worldwide Unique Visitors*

Monthly Worldwide Page Views*

Understanding trip maximizers

Trip maximizers are travelers who seek experiences and look to travel as a way to both reset and enrich their lives. They want to make the best use of their hard-earned and well-deserved travel time, and they try to ensure everything goes right so they can enjoy every minute. It’s a brand-conscious audience who travel with the people they care about and enjoy immersing themselves in the destination culture.

Trip maximizers:

• Want to get the most out of their trip
• Value simplicity, flexibility, and convenience
• Book multiple items on one site (for example, flights, hotels, and car rental)
• 64% are loyal to the brands they like
• 53% are male
• 55% are parents

About Expedia

Expedia is one of the world’s leading travel brands, helping travelers plan and book their whole trip with ease

Expedia is a full-service online travel agency that allows travelers to research and book travel packages, flights, hotels, vacation rentals, rental cars, cruises, activities, attractions, and related services. It has over 41 localised sites, reaching more than 40 million travel shoppers across the world each month.

See the latest activity from Expedia

Find out the brand’s latest news, including how it’s attracting travelers to its sites

Travel like a Champion with Expedia

Expedia has partnered with the Champions League since 2018 and extended its sponsorship this year. Throughout the season, both Expedia and  Hotels.com  will be promoted with multi-market brand campaigns, promoting travel as force that strengthens connections, unites football fans with their teams and gets them back in stadiums.

Expedia unveils major brand revamp 

In April 2021 Expedia underwent a brand refresh based on the the belief that who you travel with matters – and Expedia’s commitment to be the ultimate travel companion. The revamp included an updated look and feel and enhanced product offerings, including the first-ever edition of “Expedia Travel Week”: a week of special deals to inspire people to travel again.

365 Days of #OMGB

Visit Britain joined forces with our Creative Partnerships team to create the “365 days of #OMGB (Oh My Great Britain) – a campaign that run across Expedia US, UK and France showcasing amazing moments that can only be experienced in Great Britain.

Learn More >

Drive brand awareness and conversion

Our advertising solutions on Expedia adapt to your needs, whether your objective is building brand awareness or driving conversions. 

Flight Sponsored Listings

Connect with highly-qualified travel shoppers actively searching for their next flight on Expedia branded sites. 

Display Advertising

Raise visibility and engage highly qualified travel shoppers with Display advertising solutions. 

Discover more audiences

Take a look at our other brands to find out how you can reach other traveler types.

*Based on Expedia Group Omniture data (Monthly average figures between July-December 2021)

*Kantar 2020

Connect with our digital media consultants to learn how to best engage, influence, and convert your target travel audience