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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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How to Write Travel Advertising in 2021 (Or Any Other Year)

Even in the midst of a pandemic, it's possible to write good travel copy. Here are seven evergreen pointers to guide your writing in an industry facing notable challenges.

To say that the travel (let alone travel advertising) were hit hard by the pandemic may be the understatement of the year.

With lockdown still very much in effect, tight travel restrictions in place, and millions of people apprehensive about just leaving the house, it’s no wonder international arrivals are estimated to have dropped upwards of 80% in 2020.

That said, with vaccines being rolled out slowly but surely, the travel and tourism sectors may begin making a comeback sooner rather than later—and the savviest players will be well-positioned to capitalize on pent-up demand.

The signs of this resurgence are starting to appear in the media. The other day I came across this advertisement for Regent cruises: 

For travel marketers looking for ways to use persuasive copywriting to entice people out of the house, this ad provides some clues as to how it can be done:

1. Stop your reader in their tracks. 

If you fail at this step, nothing that comes after matters. It’s why David Ogilvy said you should spend 80 cents in your dollar writing headlines. In today’s scrolling culture, there’s more noise than ever—and your words need to cut through. This ad uses just four, paired with a perfect image, that force the reader to pause:

Do you feel it? 

This line works for multiple reasons. The question creates instant engagement. The reader can’t help but be involved. It? What is it ? You’ve got to read on to find out. Teasing your reader—creating curiosity and then delaying the payoff—is crucial to tugging them into the copy. Importantly, the line employs the most irresistible word to the human ear (or is it ego): “You.

2. Meet them where they are. 

You’ve momentarily arrested your reader’s attention—well done. But you won’t have it for long unless you can establish some rapport; something that says “I get you.” This writer does it by speaking to the current reality of the reader—someone who’s been in lockdown for a year, and perhaps longing for an escape, either consciously or subconsciously. It doesn’t take much: 

The world. It’s still out there.

“Ah yes,” nods the reader, “I’d almost forgotten.” No talk of new normals or uncertainty or any of the tired phrases that have become ubiquitous in the media. Instead, this travel advertising reaches beyond cliché, appealing to the reader’s imaginative side. In doing so, they unite writer and reader in a place of shared understanding— somewhere only we know , as a band once put it.

3. Speak to their aspirations

Having established some common ground, we can now make the crucial leap from what is to what could be . Creating this contrast is key to stirring desire. In her popular TED Talk , Nancy Duarte brilliantly illustrates how Martin Luther King Jr. employs this see-sawing back and forth between reality and possibility to great effect in his “I Have a Dream” speech. Here, the application is far more subtle, but no less effective: 

The city you’ve longed to explore.

The beach you can feel as you close your eyes and breathe it in. 

This is where we long to escape to, isn’t it? Notice how the writer touches on the yin and the yang of vacation—urban excitement and rural tranquillity—in two tidy examples, city and beach. A lovely economy; whichever you’re pining for, this ad has you covered.

4. Use sensory language. 

Close your eyes and breathe it in.

Who can read these words and not have a visceral reaction? If you’ve read this far, you’re interested. And this sensory bit brings you even further into the picture.

The natural wonder dancing in your soul, pulling you toward the door.

A bit lofty, yeah? But somehow they get away with it. Perhaps because, as a luxury cruise company, Regent knows they’re appealing to a more affluent audience. The people they’re addressing are likely economically unscathed by the pandemic and generally live their lives trying to satisfy the upper reaches of Maslow’s Hierarchy . So this ad can get away with a little puffery—as long as it sings like poetry.

5. Introduce yourself. 

At this point, the reader is officially in the mood for exploration. It’s now time to bring the story full circle—and make yourself known:

The world. It’s waiting for you.

We feel it too.

With a deft turn, Regents introduces itself into the picture. Suddenly we’re all in this quest for a new experience together. (And there’s that all-important “you” again).

6. Invite them into an experience. 

From here, it’s a matter of describing how Regent’s offering delivers on the promise—in this case, to whisk the reader off to the world they’ve been missing:

Come sale the most luxurious fleet in the world and rediscover the comfort and security found aboard our smaller ships, with never a crowd and with every luxury included. 

The copy evokes opulence and adventure, with a subtle nod to safety—just to reassure that, yes, Regents is using its travel advertising, in other words, to put health first.

MarketSmiths Case Study

Picturing a luxury holiday in the Caribbean is easy . Writing about it is far harder. That’s exactly the challenge Nick and Nicky Parker, owners of the Silver Moon catamaran fleet, faced before tapping MarketSmiths. Just as well they did: we soon brought their website to vivid life, helping readers touch and taste the treasures of Barbados all while sitting at their computers. By the time we were done, Nick and Nicky were thrilled with our work—and excited to welcome hundreds more holidaymakers to their corner of paradise. 

> Read the full case study here

7. Deliver a call to action.

Finally, of course, is the call to action—the part where you tell your reader what to do next:

Begin your journey with Regent.

The word “journey,” keeps this message right on theme, and brings the whole piece to an artful close—leaving the right reader excited to hop on board. 

Well-crafted travel advertising copy gets readers excited to go where you want to take them. If you’d like help creating that language, get in touch with MarketSmiths today. 

Paul Rosevear

What do you get when you combine the soul of a musician with the mind of a writer? Copy that sings. And for the last decade, that’s precisely what Paul has delivered for global brands, bootstrap startups, and everything in between. When he’s not hard at work crafting top-notch communications, you can find Paul hanging with his wife and two young daughters, singing and playing guitar for The Vice Rags, or roaming the streets in search of the nearest slice of pizza.

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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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Travel Marketing 101: Everything You Need to Know

People are ready to travel. Where, when, and how varies as much as the individual. Passion, timing, and budgets lead the way. A smart media strategy, combined with evocative storytelling, will transport consumers to your destination.

• What is Travel Marketing?
• Top Travel Industry Trends

Essential Travel and Tourism Marketing Strategies

• — Video Marketing
• — Virtual Reality Experiences
• — Augmented Reality
• — Increase Search Visibility
• — Content Marketing & Native Ads
• — Digital Audio
• — Personalized Messaging
• Big Data in the Travel Industry

Get Started with Travel Marketing Today

What is travel marketing and why is it i mportant.

• The Travel & Tourism market is projected to reach $54 billion in 2023.
• Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate from 2027 of 4.41%, resulting in a projected market value of over one billion by 2027. 74% of this will be generated by online sales. 

It's clear why travel marketing is important. Having a data-driven travel marketing strategy makes all the difference in overall business performance. It promotes travel services to new markets, strengthens awareness of one's brand, and increases the rates of both conversions and sales.

Just as travelers— for business or pleasure—have priorities and purpose in mind, so too should travel and tourism brands. What distinguishes your hotel from the others? What’s unique about your location? Who are your primary targets and how are you going to make their experience exemplary to earn their affinity? It all starts with defining your audience personas, crafting your brand, and knowing your KPIs.

Top Travel Industry Trends (2022–2025)

Again, how and where we travel varies, just as much as the destinations themselves. Below are just a few ways people are traveling. Understanding who is traveling where—and why—will inform strategies and personalization.

• Travelers Go it Alone : 25% of all American millennials plan to travel by themselves each year.
• Travelers Crave Local Experiences : The “experience economy” is huge in the travel industry. Consumers crave authentic experiences that distance them from mainstream tourism.
• Going Virtual : For consumers who want to sample and learn about different places without leaving their homes, there’s the alternative of booking a private tour and activity with locals around the world virtually, and viewing in the metaverse.
• Bucket List Travel: Always wanted to see an Emperor Penguin? There’s a cruise for that. Interested in seeing the beaches of Normandy? There’s a personal tour guide for that. Chances are the journey for these experiences starts with a recommendation from a friend and a good old-fashioned Google search to get the lay of the land.
• Business and Leisure Travel : Working remotely can mean Italy as much as Hoboken. The concept of being location-independent— traveling and working remotely— has become a new mainstay post-pandemic. In turn, digital nomads are searching for locations and deals on where to work and play.
• Sustainable Travel : Most U.S. travelers believe there aren’t enough options when it comes to sustainable travel. Nearly 70% of travelers say they are more likely to book accommodations if they know the property is planet-friendly .

Travel Industry Trends Resources: Generational Marketing 2023 Marketing Trends and Predictions

One of the best travel marketing tips to keep in mind is that most customers are not really paying for products or services in their minds. They are paying for experiences . As with nearly all businesses, technology presents the travel industry with seemingly endless opportunities to connect with customers. Below are just a few way brands are getting noticed:

Video Marketing

In the travel industry, videos have long been an indispensable marketing tool. They show off destinations and hospitality businesses in their full glory. Travel marketers that lean into video creation—and that doesn’t have to equal big budget productions—will forge connections with target audiences. Digital video is an amazing way for brands to educate, elicit emotion, and tell compelling stories.

Virtual Reality Experiences—The Metaverse and You:

It’s the ultimate test vacation. The metaverse can transport you just about anywhere and no passport is required. Like what you see? Post an offer and start planning. While still in the early stages, the tourism industry is already making the jump in the virtual reality (VR) world . Over the past few years, museums have introduced more creative ways to interact with exhibits and some have even taken consumers on pub crawls. Thomas Cook , a pioneer in the travel and tourism industry for more than 170 years, is using 360 VR films so travelers can test the waters of Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt and more. And if you’re trying to reach Gen Z, they’re here and they’re ready to go places.

Augmented Reality Enhances Real-World Settings

AR, or augmented reality, differs slightly from virtual reality. AR uses apps and overlays to create an experience and show additions to a particular setting. Travel companies can use this to advantage by using AR to transport and showcase their offerings.

Increase Search Visibility and See Bookings Soar

It’s easy to take the importance of a focused SEO strategy for granted with so many other options vying for your attention, but that would be a mistake­. Not having a mindful search strategy as a key tenet in your media strategy would be like not seeing the Eiffel Tower when in Paris. A well-rounded SEO strategy facilitates direct bookings, drives site engagement, and increases overall cost-effectiveness.

Do it right, and you’ll see your Google rankings increase. Getting your brand name on the first page of results is the holy grail to success when 94% of search starts with a search engine and more than 25% click the first result that comes up.

While you may already spend on SEO, it's a good idea to have an SEO check-in from time to time to make sure you’re targeting the right folks and doing so the way they want you to.

Content Marketing and Native Advertising

Few things combine time and place to greater effect than native advertising. It’s the ultimate storytelling device, empowering marketers to say exactly what they want to say and where. A good magazine ad or digital native advertising piece will take the shape of an article—for example, by showcasing a vineyard in Napa on the cover of Travel + Leisure or a video highlighting the beaches of Mexico within a surfing site. The creative will transport viewers, and hopefully a nicely placed call-to-action leads to a website that will give audiences more of the information they seek.

A few native advertising tips:

• Create content that encourages the reader to act
• Know how you’re going to measure results: what is it that you want user to do after they read your article or play your video?
• Try to be original. If you are one of several players trying to host destination weddings, why should they pick you? Are you offering a special incentive code?
• Be authentic. Be real. Native content is storytelling, not overt advertising. It isn't directly selling, per se, but rather sparking ideas.
• Find a fit: Be mindful of where you’re running your creative and complement the space. It’s a curated audience you’re being seen in, so make the most of it.

For many, the first step to a journey is “hey Siri,” "ok Google," or “Alexa,” so it’s little surprise that increasingly travelers (and potential travelers) are turning to devices to book hotels or flights, and learn more about excursions and dining experiences. Markers can optimize content to capitalize on voice searches.

Personalized Messaging Enhances Customer Experience

The goal of effective advertising is to personalize messaging so it's as relevant and beneficial to the recipient as possible. If a travel brand is targeting a young family, it makes sense to highlight the activities for minors. If trying to become a bachelor or bachelorette destination, it may make sense to include in your ad the customized experiences available to enhance their stay (and perhaps a discount code). Leading with a customer-centric perspective distinguishes brands, creates affinity, and earns loyalty.

Data Draws the Big Picture: Big Data in the Travel Industry

The importance of data analytics to drive performance and ROI cannot be overstated and data visualization platforms play an important role in this. They—quite literally—provide a big picture of how all elements in any particular ad campaign are performing. Operators, in turn, can use this information to see what creative is performing strongest, and which platforms are driving the most visit to optimize performance.

Gathering the data enables travel and tourism entities to discern data sets and maximize budgets. Data visualization platforms, such as MNI’s industry-praised Optics , gives advertisers the ability to evaluate key metrics and optimize ROI.

• Engagement rate: How are people engaging with your content? Are they commenting, saving, and sharing, or merely scrolling past? If you have a million followers but only 1,000 interact with your marketing, that is not a great return on your effort.
• Targeting/Retargeting: Are your ads reaching new audiences and are you using data to re-engage potential leads or customers who leave your website without converting? Retargeting ads are designed to help advertisers reach visitors who do not convert right away. These campaigns are effective because they allow advertisers to target engaged customers with a highly relevant ad. Retargeting delivers strong results for increased awareness, website traffic, and conversion rate.
• Putting it all together: Let the picture of what you see tell you where you want to go, where you should be spending more, what ads you should optimize. For the effort that your business is putting into collecting and maintaining a database, you should be able to obtain an equal or greater amount of value from the insights it gathers. 

Attitudes to travel are a moving target. Whether traveling for business or leisure, going by air or train or car, the desire to travel is real. Telling your target audience how you will be providing value and keeping them safe is essential. Step #1, know your audience. Step #2, connect with them. Step #3, embrace a multi-channel strategy. To do this, it’s incumbent to keep up to date with the very latest travel marketing strategies and to partner with those that do it best.

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How To Reach Your Target Audience With Travel Advertising Campaigns

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Learn how to identify and reach your target audience for travel advertising campaigns.

Make travel advertising campaigns more effective by targeting the right audience

Across all advertising and marketing campaigns, one fundamental principle holds true: Reaching the right audience is the key to implementing successful marketing strategies. This is especially important to consider when it comes to the tourism industry and travel advertising for TV, a format where the impact and relevance of your advert messaging can mean the difference between success and mediocrity.  TV travel ad campaigns, and travel marketing efforts as a whole, aren’t just about showcasing beautiful destinations or tempting viewers with the allure of far-off places. Of course, in a post-pandemic world, those images certainly don’t hurt. Realistically, successful travel marketing campaigns hinge on ensuring your messaging across TV, social media, email marketing, content marketing, video ads, and any other media, resonates with those most likely to take your desired action — in this case, likely booking a vacation. Whether you work with a travel agency, a company like Expedia, or a related travel business, join us as we unlock the secrets of audience targeting and its pivotal role in the world of travel advertising, with a specific focus on TV. Let’s explore how targeting strategies can boost your company's ROI and bring more value to every advertising dollar spent.

Why Does Finding Your Target Audience Matter?

Reaching the right audience on the right channel with a message speaking to a potential customer’s desires and interests will allow travel brands to level up their advertising efforts into highly effective, revenue-generating endeavors. 

Effective audience targeting for TV travel advertising isn’t about getting your messaging in front of more people — it's about getting it in front of the right people. Below are just three benefits of focusing on the right potential customers instead of casting a wider, unspecified net:

Allocate Resources Efficiently: You could create the best travel advertising the world has ever seen, but targeting the right audience ensures that your marketing campaign’s budget is spent efficiently. Avoid one-size-fits-all audience targeting templates so you aren’t wasting money on viewers who are unlikely to become customers.

Increase Conversion Rates: When your message resonates with the right audience, you're more likely to see higher conversion rates. This means more bookings, more revenue, and a better ROI.

Boost Brand Loyalty: Targeting the right audience can help build long-term brand loyalty and show you care enough about your customers that you did the research on how to reach them. When your message speaks directly to your ideal potential customers, they're more likely to remember and choose your brand for their travel needs.

Reach Your Ideal Travel Ad Target Audience

With an understanding of why specifying and reaching your target audience is vital for travel marketing campaign success, let's look at some tangible strategies for maximizing ROI with effective targeting.

Understand Your Ideal Traveler

Before you can effectively target your audience and start boosting conversions, you must understand who your ideal traveler is, which starts with creating detailed traveler personas . These well-researched personas should include:

Demographics: Age, gender, income level, marital status, and more. At a base level, who are your current customers, and who do you want to reach?

Psychographics: Interests, values, lifestyle, and travel preferences. What type of experiences and travel destinations are your ideal customers interested in? Do you deal with adventurers looking for solo mountaineering in Europe or Iceland? Or are your customers gourmands searching for Japan’s renowned cuisine or Switzerland’s legendary chocolate?

Behavior: How do they research and book travel? What platforms do they use? Do they prefer to lean on a full-service travel agency?

Pain Points: What problems or challenges can your travel brand address for them? How do you make their lives easier, and why will they keep coming back to you?

With these personas in hand, you'll have a clear picture of who you're trying to reach.

Leverage Data and Analytics

Data is one of the most valuable currencies in the world. Analyzing your company’s collected customer data is a powerful tool for audience targeting in travel advertising for TV. Here are some best practices to make the most of your data:

Utilize Viewership Data: TV networks and platforms often provide data on their viewership, including demographics and viewing habits. Use this information to align your adverts with the right channels and time slots.

Harness First-Party Data: Analyze your existing customer database to identify common traits among your best customers. This information can help you target similar individuals through Connected TV advertising.

Explore Third-Party Data: You can also tap into third-party data sources that provide insights into consumer behavior and preferences. This can help you further refine your audience targeting strategy.

Segmentation and Personalization

One-size-fits-all advertising templates are no longer effective. When reviewing the highest performing, best travel ad examples, you’ll notice that a commonly recurring trait is how they’re tailored to specific audience segments. Consider segmenting your audience based on factors like:

Travel Interests: Adventure, luxury, family vacations, etc.

Travel History: Frequent travelers, occasional travelers, business travelers, etc.

Geographic Location: Understand where your customers are around the world

Life Stage: Honeymooners, retirees, families with young children, etc.

After segmenting out your audience, it becomes much easier to craft personalized messages that will resonate with each group's specific interests and needs.

Timing and Placement

Timing and placement have a significant impact on your TV ad effectiveness. Consider some of the below strategies when it comes to deciding on an ad schedule:

Dayparting: Different times of day attract different types of viewers. For example, morning shows may appeal to families, while late evening slots may attract younger, adventurous travelers.

Event Targeting: Capitalize on major events and holidays. For instance, promoting winter getaways before the holiday season can be highly effective.

Cross-Platform Promotion: Use TV advertising to drive viewers to your website or social media platforms, where you can further engage them and track their interactions.

A/B Testing and Optimization

Even with careful planning, it's essential to continually test, optimize, and adapt your TV advertising campaigns to keep up with market changes. 

A/B testing allows for experimentation with trying different ad visuals, messaging, and targeting strategies. Monitor the performance of each variant and refine your approach based on the data.

Review and Analyze Your Outcomes

Whatever market segment you’re after, it’s important to remember to take time and review how your advertising campaigns are performing.

Achieving the highest ROI comes from continually reaching your audience, and that only happens when you continually do the legwork to track and evaluate your TV ad performance. Set a review schedule with your team to make sure you’re on the right track.

Make Every Second Count

In travel TV advertising, every second of airtime counts. Maximizing ROI means focusing on reaching the right audience with the right message. Effective audience targeting, backed by data, segmentation, and personalization, can transform your TV advertising campaigns from costly endeavors into revenue-generating assets that consistently drive high conversion rates. 

By understanding your customer base and ideal travelers, leveraging data, and optimizing your strategy, you can make travel TV advertising a powerful tool for your brand's success in the ever-competitive travel industry.

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Industries Overview

Latest articles, gen zers fixate on wealth because of social media, but need banks’ help to know where they stand, meta, alphabet acquisitions on the decline as antitrust scrutiny ramps up, the digital ad industry’s overreliance on cookies could create a crisis, how marketers can prepare for ai’s impact on creative work, how consumers find new brands and products on social media, marketplaces, and brick-and-mortar retail in 5 charts, digital retailers want to use ai to get hyperpersonal in 2024, disney+ and hulu ctv ad inventory will be available via google and the trade desk, why beyond is bringing retail brands back from the dead, social shopping, gen z dualities, and creators on the big screen: 3 shoptalk takeaways, pets, membership perks, and smaller-format stores: three predictions for how walmart can continue to expand, about emarketer, a 3-year growth boom in travel ad spend after 2020’s plummet.

The US travel industry is well on its way to a full recovery from 2020’s pandemic-driven nadir, and with this recovery has come a return to ad spending. Travel industry players upped their digital ad budgets by 42.7% last year, and we forecast a 22.5% boost for this year. Next year, travel will grow its outlays faster than any vertical we track.

Although it was precipitated by a dramatic fall, no other industry will produce growth akin to what we’re projecting for travel through 2024.  Every industry grew spending enormously last year—including travel—but most of the others are now coming back to earth. Overall national growth in digital ad spending is expected to be 17.8% this year and 14.2% next year. Travel will outperform those averages by healthy margins, and by more than any other cohort. Travel will lead the country in ad spending growth in 2024 as well.

Travel’s share of national spending, however, will still be far less than it was before.  The industry dramatically lost relevance in the digital ad spending market in 2020—accounting for just 2.0% of ad dollars, down from 4.6% in 2019. Its share of overall spend will marginally tick back up in the coming years, but it’ll remain the smallest player of all the industries we track by far. 

Nonetheless, travel’s pace of increase will nearly lead the pack this year, before rising to the forefront next year.  Only the retail industry is expected to increase its spending more quickly than travel in 2022. By next year, travel will be the only cohort growing its spend by at least 20.0%.

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Travel products to help you scale your presence and capture pent-up demand

Summer is quickly approaching in many parts of the world, and travel planning is on the rise : search interest in “passport appointments” increased 300% over the first four months of 2022, and “luxury hotels near me” has over two times the search interest it had during the same period in 2019.

Our team attended Google Marketing Live last week to share our focus areas as we see travel searches rebounding. We showcased new products that will make it easier than ever before for our travel partners—both large and small—to capture new travel demand, including hotel rates on Google Business Profile , feedless onboarding for Hotel Ads , and Performance Max for travel goals .  

Opening up access to free and paid booking links through easier onboarding 

Getting accurate and timely rates and availability information for your hotel is crucial to finding and serving your prospective guests. We're making this easier in three ways:

First, we're actively supporting industry-standard protocols to bring hotel availability, rates, and inventory online. Talk to your technology providers to see if they are already able to connect your hotel information to Google.

Second, we've significantly simplified our onboarding process by offering the ability for hoteliers to add rates and availability to their Google Business Profile—bypassing technical spreadsheets and files. Individual hotels that meet eligibility requirements can directly input their rates through their Google Business Profile to participate in free hotel booking links . Visit our Help Center article for more information. 

Additionally, we're opening up access to Hotel Ads by enabling advertisers to create Hotel campaigns without needing a Hotel Center account in the coming months. This means that any Google Ads advertiser will be able to run ads for the hotel’s website by using rates we’ve sourced. 

The advertiser can indicate “I don’t have a Hotel Center account” during campaign creation. This will allow the advertiser to then search for and select hotels of interest. For hotels where Google has available rates, Google will automatically select the highest-quality feed for the hotel. 

Scaling hotel advertising across Google properties through Performance Max

Last year, we introduced Performance Max campaigns as a new way to buy Google ads across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps from a single campaign. They complement your existing performance campaigns to help you drive results across Google’s full range of advertising channels and inventory. Now, we’re excited to expand Performance Max for travel goals. Later this year, hotel advertisers will be able to promote their properties and increase bookings across all of Google’s channels. 

Performance Max for travel goals simplifies ad campaign setup with pre-populated asset groups for each hotel property, with auto-generated images, descriptions, and videos that you can review and edit. It also extends your reach to property-specific queries on Search, in addition to promoting your hotel properties across Google's advertising channels that comes with Performance Max.

As the travel landscape continues to evolve, we’ll work together to bring your customers helpful and comprehensive experiences wherever they’re searching across Google. To learn even more about how to get started bringing your hotel business online, visit our website . 

Posted by Michael Trauttmansdorff, Director, Product Management ⁠— Travel at Google

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The Guide to TravelAds Sponsored Listings

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In our last Travel Recovery Trend Report, covering the second quarter of 2021, we highlighted several positive signs for the industry. As we moved into Q3, however, concerns around the Delta variant and renewed restrictions led many travelers to reevaluate. Still, the industry saw positive progress in many areas. This latest installment tracks this momentum using our first-party Expedia Group traveler data and custom research, presented at both a global and regional level. Travel marketers can use these latest insights to inspire travelers and continue their road to recovery.

What do travelers want? New research reveals answers

Date: October 8, 2020 Time: 10:00AM PDT, 1:00PM EDT Duration: 60 minutes

Over the last several months, Expedia Group surveyed a total of 34,000 global travelers, with the goal to help you learn how you can position your property to capture bookings as travel recovers.

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In this complex travel ecosystem, finding ways to connect with the right travel audience and consistently drive revenue can be challenging for hoteliers—enter TravelAds Sponsored Listings. TravelAds is a pay-per-click hotel advertising solution designed to help you maximize bookings and revenue by reaching the right traveler at the right time. The key to success with TravelAds is tapping into all of its capabilities. In this guide, you will:

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Ranked: The Most Luxurious Airline Meals Of All Time

Posted: May 19, 2023 | Last updated: July 19, 2023

Decadent in-flight meals

Hampers and fresh fruit with the Handley Page Transport Company

The first meals on passenger planes were, according to British newspaper  The Guardian , served in 1919 by the Handley Page Transport Company. Stewards, or “cabin boys”, brought hampers of sandwiches and fruit onboard and distributed them among the passengers.

Picnic baskets with Imperial Airways

In the 1920s, the focus was on cold food as energy had to be preserved for the engine. Meals were presented in wicker baskets, with options typically including dishes like cold chicken, fruit salads, sandwiches, lobster salads and cheese selections. On airlines such as Imperial Airways, (British Airways’ predecessor), these might also have included ox tongue, foie gras and peaches.

“Silver Wing” service with Imperial Airways

According to  The Golden Age of Air Travel by Nina Hadaway, 1927 saw the launch of the world’s first truly luxurious air service, courtesy of Imperial Airways. Their “Silver Wing” service was super-exclusive, seeing a steward dressed in a white jacket, bow tie and cap serving pre-cooked, heated food to passengers. The presentation was second to none, with fine china, small tables with linen tablecloths, silver cutlery and crystal glasses.

Roast beef with Pan Am

Oysters with Qantas

If you were lucky enough to travel first-class from Sydney to London with Qantas in the 1930s, that means you paid 85 times the average working wage for your ticket. Passengers enjoyed fresh lobster, oysters, kangaroo tail soup, fried shrimp, caviar and Champagne on board the luxury flights, as well as enjoying cheese boards, plenty of wine and cigarettes.

Frozen food during the war

According to Travel and Leisure , the 1940s saw airline meals taking a step towards the dishes we’d recognize today, as airlines began using frozen meals aboard flights. The article attributes this to the war, saying the US military began to notice that soldiers were arriving to Europe in an unsatisfactory physical condition, and decided that hot food was necessary on flights. The development wasn’t just economical, but also allowed for more varied dishes.

Beluga caviar with Air France

Onboard Air France planes in the 1950s everything was terribly chic, not least the meals. Dinner options included Beluga caviar, endive salads, medallions of lobster and more, with plenty of Champagne and liqueurs. Forget about plastic cups and foil trays, too: meals were served on china plates with drinks presented in the finest glassware.

Roast turkey with Qantas

Birthday cake with Trans World Airlines

According to Food in the Air and Space by Richard Foss, food onboard the now-defunct airline TWA was a sight to behold. One passenger, flying in 1962, had a surprise birthday cake prepared for him, with stewards checking each passenger’s passport in case it was anyone else’s special day. Entrées included decadent dishes such as smoked Nova Scotia salmon, fillet of sole, porterhouse steak and fresh lobster.

Thanksgiving dinner with Pan Am

The development of frozen meals onboard helped luxurious airlines like Pan Am prepare American classics in the air. Food in the Air and Space  details how, on Thanksgiving, the airline would serve a full turkey dinner no matter where they were. Staff recalled a day in 1967, in which they enlisted a handsome first-class passenger to don an apron and carve the turkey, which was served with potatoes, gravy, cranberry jelly and more.

Baked Alaska with Cathay Pacific

Rather than following the convention of providing comfort food onboard, Cathay Pacific went against the status quo in the 1960s and offered a selection of contemporary menus, including baked Alaska flambéd in the air.

Sevruga caviar with Alitalia

European carriers were no less extravagant. Meals on Alitalia started with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails before several lavish courses followed: perhaps sevruga caviar, lobster with lemon and truffle of filet of beef in a Barolo sauce.

Beer from a keg with Lufthansa

Freshly carved ham with Scandinavian Airlines

Roast mignonettes of lamb with Singapore Airlines

By 1971, airlines were battling to outdo their competitors' lavish first-class offerings. This Singapore Airlines menu gives an example of the food available at the time. Choices in first class included spiced chicken, shrimp curry, roast mignonettes of lamb and a Malaysian salad, but even in economy the offering was delicious, with options such as stuffed mushrooms with crab meat and stir-fried shrimp.

Steak with British Airways

The 1970s were generally a great time to be in first-class with British Airways. On a flight from Oslo to London in 1977, the appetizers were smoked salmon with scrambled egg, while for their entrée passengers could choose between filet of beef with red wine and pimento sauce, pan-fried potatoes and buttered leaf spinach or poached halibut with lobster sauce and boiled potatoes. Those with room left could go on to enjoy French apple cake, a cheese board and a fruit tray.

Shimmering noodles with China Airlines

China Airlines branded itself “the world’s first flying Chinese restaurant” in the 1970s, focusing heavily on their food offering in advertising. Passengers could enjoy traditional Chinese dishes on board, with one advert highlighting spring rolls “removed from the oven at the precise moment”, sweet and sour pork “you could write a sonnet about” and Mandarin chicken “seasoned flawlessly, served with shimmering gold noodles”.

Lobster with Singapore Airlines

Brandy, Burgundy and Bergerac with Singapore Airlines

Nouvelle cuisine with Philippine Airlines

As the first airline in Asia to offer food on board, Philippine Airlines had always been ahead of the curve. By 1984 they had kicked things up another gear by serving nouvelle cuisine at 30,000ft. First-class hors d'oeuvres included pumpernickel with smoked trout mousse and sea perch salad in vine leaves, while desserts featured intricate creations such as a millefeuille Strasbourgeoise.

French fine-dining with Virgin Atlantic

When Virgin Atlantic first started operating between London and New York in 1984, they partnered with Maxim’s, an extravagant Parisian restaurant. Meals, served by onboard butlers, featured fine-dining classics: Beluga caviar on ice, Parma Ham with sliced avocado, filet of Dover sole with lobster mousse and boned quail with wild mushrooms. Wines were no less outrageous – straight from Maxim’s cellar.

Guinea fowl in champagne sauce with Air France

Airline food in the 1990s was getting closer to what we know today. With most people sitting in economy class, portions were smaller and the meals less lavish. However, if passengers sought the luxury of the golden age of flying, all they had to do was upgrade to first. This Air France Concorde menu from 1992 shows the sort of decadent food passengers of the 1960s would have been used to: fresh caviar, lobster salad with truffles and guinea fowl in Champagne sauce.

Champagne and caviar with Air France and British Airways

As the world entered the 2000s, everything changed: the September 11 attacks meant fancy cutlery was ditched in favour of plastic, while many airlines who suffered from the financial fallout stopped serving meals on short-haul flights, meaning passengers had to buy food. Luxuries such as black truffle, caviar, Champagne and foie gras became – and remain – limited to the few who could afford first class.

Now read all about the most-loved dish in every US state

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Here’s What the World’s Most Expensive Business Class is Like

The perks of Qatar Airways’ ultra-luxurious QSuites can come with a hefty price tag but with exquisite amenities, it just might be worth it.

Madeline Holly-Carothers • Mar 22, 2024

Qatar Airways’ ultra-luxurious business class, QSuites, is the most expensive business class option in the sky. Headquartered in Doha, Qatar , Qatar Airways launched QSuites in 2017. It became, and still is, one of the largest business-class options of all commercial airlines. At around $6,000 one way, the perks of flying in a QSuite can come with a hefty price tag. 

Before the Flight

Before boarding, one important perk of opting for QSuite status is lounge access . If the flight goes through Doha, QSuite guests can visit Qatar’s flagship lounge, Al Mourjan Business Class lounge.

The lounge is one of the largest in the Middle East, offering visitors a buffet, sushi bar, and lots of seating. There are even sleeping pods and a water fountain to enhance pre-flight relaxation. Visitors can also take showers or use the meeting spaces inside the lounge.

On the Plane

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Qatar Airways (@qatarairways)

Passengers flying in a Qsuite will enjoy having pre-boarding access. Once on the plane, your spacious suite includes an extra large seat, a small sitting bench, and a TV. Each QSuite also has a sliding door that increases the feeling of privacy, and a wide swivel desk tray to allow for working, writing, and more.

The seat lies flat into a bed, and the journey typically includes slippers, a hygiene kit, an eye mask, and sometimes pajamas.

Depending on the plane, the suites are likely in a 1-2-1 configuration. This means couples or duos flying together have the option to sit next to one another and make the single suite into a double, including the bed. The suite is also equipped with mood lighting, with passengers having control over its brightness.

In-flight Meals and Entertainment

Meals in business class on Qatar Airways, according to the airline’s website, are “freshly prepared” with locally sourced ingredients that are in season.

The menu changes throughout the year, and by route, but always includes a starter, soup, main dish, and dessert. It’s also served on china with flatware and a cloth napkin. Passengers’ dining trays are set by staff in QSuites.

An example of a meal in QSuites might be an heirloom tomato and burrata salad to start followed by a seasonal soup with bread. Then, for a main selection, passengers might expect lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and seasonal vegetables. Dessert could consist of a sweet biscuit with pistachio mousse and spiced plums.

Business class passengers are also invited to dine on demand. This means guests can decide what time they want to eat, instead of the standard meal time.

Entertainment in business class is similar to that of any class on Qatar but does feature larger screens. Passengers have the choice of various movies, TV shows, podcasts, games, and more during the flight.

All in all, one of the major attractions of QSuites is the space and the attention to detail. At upwards of $10,000 roundtrip, guests can expect to feel like they’re in a quaint mini-hotel room instead of a tight airplane suite.

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