Travel Advertising – Your Guide to 2026 Success

By: Frank DePino | January 5, 2026

Imagine a traveler endlessly scrolling their phone, torn between a sun‑drenched beach escape or a neon‑lit city break—until one ad hits, ignites wanderlust, and changes the decision.

This spark is no accident. In 2024, travel advertising rebounded powerfully in the U.S., with digital ad spend surging nearly 14.3% to around USD 6.79 billion, according to Insider Intelligence travel marketing reports. Meanwhile, global advertising spend is projected to reach USD 772.4 billion, with travel and transport among the fastest-growing sectors, according to Dentsu’s Global Ad Spend Forecast.

With so many competing messages vying for travelers’ attention, standing out has never been more challenging.

Travel advertising is the practice of promoting destinations, hotels, tour operators, airlines, and tourism experiences to capture that attention effectively. In a crowded and competitive market, it allows businesses to cut through the noise, showcase what makes them unique, and build meaningful emotional connections with their audience—ultimately influencing booking decisions and driving growth.

In this guide, you’ll discover battle-tested strategies to keep your travel advertising sharp:

• Why is travel advertising important for tourism businesses?
• Travel Advertising Digital Trends
• Native Advertising Travel Campaign Tips
• Best Travel Advertising Campaigns
• Digital Ad Spend in the Travel Industry

Read on to learn how you can sharpen your travel advertising, stay ahead of the competition, and turn inspiration into bookings.

Why is travel advertising important for tourism businesses?

Travel advertising is a key driver of growth for tourism businesses, enabling them to reach and engage the right audience with precision. By leveraging compelling ads and innovative digital strategies, destinations, hotels, and tour operators can showcase unique experiences, highlight what sets them apart, and inspire travelers to take action.

Effective travel advertising not only increases click-through rates and bookings but also delivers a high return on investment, especially when campaigns use targeted platforms such as social media, video, and search advertising. By standing out amid a crowded travel market, businesses can strengthen brand recognition, build lasting customer relationships, and cultivate loyalty that supports long-term growth.

For inspiration on crafting high-impact campaigns, explore creative strategies for luxury travel ads that capture affluent audiences, or learn hospitality marketing techniques that consistently boost bookings and guest engagement.

Travel Advertising Digital Trends

Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or part of a large travel agency, the main goal of your travel advertisement is to reach new customers and expand operations in your destination. 

Let’s take a look at a few advertising trends or marketing channels that you can use to incorporate your marketing strategies.

Video Advertising

Over the past decade, video marketing has surged. Even a few years ago, YouTube reported 1 billion hours of watch time per day on its platform. Since then, the numbers have grown exponentially. 

91% of consumers would like to watch more engaging video content from the brands they follow. Essentially, if you’re not utilizing video marketing as one of your primary channels, you’re missing out on many potential customers. 

The beauty of video marketing is that it is well-suited for travel companies and brands. Nothing can entice a tourist like a well-thought-out visual representation of a destination. 

This visual representation can showcase everything from the food to the services, to the accommodations to the sights. Potential visitors will have a better idea of what to expect before booking their tickets.

As you probably already know, customers love knowing what to expect when they visit a place, especially when they are spending quite a bit of money to be there in the first place.

Video directly impacts purchase decisions

Well-crafted videos provide clarity and significantly influence purchase decisions, with over 88% of viewers more likely to buy after watching an explainer video. 

You can better engage potential customers by highlighting what makes your products or services unique. The first ten seconds are critical to grabbing attention, so ensure your video begins with impact. 

Video advertising offers endless possibilities for creativity, making it one of the most immersive ways to captivate audiences. 

By combining compelling storytelling with striking visuals, you can create ads that resonate emotionally and encourage action, making video an essential tool for marketing success.

Display Advertising

Display advertising is essentially advertising that you find online on third-party websites. The beauty of display advertising is that you don’t need a large budget to get started. You can simply reach out to relevant websites to use banners and other visual aid formats, including photos or GIFs, to get your message across. 

As with any form of marketing, the main idea here is to focus on the aspects of your services that make you unique. For example, if you’re marketing a tropical beach hotel outside of Bangkok, you might showcase the pristine waters and warm weather or how you can access these distinct amenities for much less than you could elsewhere. As you begin collecting data from your display advertising across various websites, you can get a better idea of your audience and their interests. With this information, you can begin crafting better-targeted ads.

Native Advertising

Native advertising is a form of paid marketing similar to display ads, but it stands out by seamlessly blending with the page’s tone and design so it doesn’t feel like an ad. 

Crafted to match specific media formats, it flows naturally with other content, creating a non-disruptive experience. For example, the Islands of Adventure StoryWorks campaign for the Philippines Tourism Ministry provided a stunning user experience, mimicking a stroll on a tropical beach. 

A “More Fun Awaits” call to action invited further exploration. Successful native advertising showcases destinations’ best aspects while ensuring a cohesive synergy between the brand and platform.

You can think of native advertising as a similar form of marketing to display advertising. They are both forms of paid advertising.

Augmented Reality in Travel Advertising

Nothing is more immersive in modern tourism advertising than augmented reality (AR). It enables hotels, resorts, and local businesses to bring their physical spaces to life digitally, giving potential visitors a chance to explore and interact with their offerings before booking. AR doesn’t just showcase spaces—it creates memorable experiences that emotionally connect travelers to your brand.

There are many ways to implement augmented reality in your travel marketing campaigns, including:

• Augmented tourist destinations, where visitors can point their smartphones at landmarks, restaurants, or attractions to access instant information, virtual tours, or special promotions.
• Interactive hotel elements, allowing guests to virtually navigate rooms, amenities, dining areas, and event spaces, giving them confidence in their booking decisions.
• AR-enhanced storytelling, such as guided tours or historical overlays, which let travelers experience a location’s story, culture, or heritage in an engaging, gamified way.

In fact, AR has emerged as one of the most effective hotel digital marketing solutions, helping properties increase bookings, boost guest engagement, and stand out in a crowded market. Forward-thinking travel brands are now integrating AR with loyalty programs, gamified experiences, and social media filters to extend reach and deepen customer interaction beyond the booking process, making AR a powerful tool for both marketing and guest retention.

What are the most effective travel advertising strategies?

The most effective travel advertising strategies focus on engaging travelers and showcasing unique experiences. 

Digital advertising plays a key role, with targeted campaigns on social media and search engines ensuring precise audience reach. 

Utilizing captivating video ads and visually appealing travel advertisements can boost click-through rates and engagement. Personalization is crucial; travel marketers tailor ads to resonate with their audience’s preferences. 

Additionally, strategic call-to-action elements in advertising campaigns drive conversions. 

Travel advertisers should also leverage storytelling in travel marketing campaigns to build emotional connections, ensuring their travel ad stands out in the competitive tourism industry.

How can I measure the effectiveness of a travel advertising campaign?

Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with your goals is essential for evaluating the success of your tourism marketing efforts.

Metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS) reveal how well your travel advertisements are performing.

Monitoring engagement levels on social media and the performance of video ads can provide insights into audience interaction.

Use analytics tools to assess traffic sources, time on site, and booking rates generated by your travel ad.

Additionally, A/B testing helps optimize advertising campaigns, ensuring strategies resonate with your target audience in the competitive tourism industry.

Native Advertising Travel Campaign Tips

Native placements work best when they feel more like editorial than exposure. Use the steps below to keep your ads invisible yet irresistible:

• Begin with a headline that sounds like advice from another traveler. First-person or question-led titles (“What I learned on a €300 island-hopping weekend”) trigger curiosity and outperform brand-centric copy.
• Use the short description to spell out the payoff. Tell readers exactly what they’ll get on click (“Free 48-hour foodie itinerary”) so the ad and the landing page feel contiguous, keeping bounce low.
• Write as you speak. Swap jargon like “ancillary services” for everyday phrases such as “extra leg-room seats”; conversational language keeps the ad feeling like genuine editorial.
• Pair copy with a high-contrast, mobile-first image (plus alt-text). Three-quarters of online travel conversions now start on a phone, so square or vertical visuals that pop on small screens matter.
• Match creative to the traveler’s stage. Serve dreamy landscape stories during the inspiration phase, then pivot to fare breakdowns or upgrade explainers once users are price-shopping.
• Drive clicks to story-rich content, not your home page. Send readers to an immersive map, short-form video, or blog that deepens the narrative before any hard sell; valuable content increases dwell time and intent.
• Layer retargeting to stay helpful, not repetitive. Use first-party intent data to refresh messages—last-minute seat alerts, festival dates, limited-time upgrades—for people who engaged but haven’t booked.
• A/B-test headlines, visuals and CTAs every week. Simple native formats make swapping elements friction-free; brands that split-test routinely see double-digit lifts in click-through and lower cost-per-acquisition.
• Track view-through as well as click-through conversions. Many holiday purchases start with a glance, not a click; view-through metrics reveal the hidden influence of native impressions on later bookings.

Best Travel Advertising Campaigns

Visit Portugal

Portugal has become a top travel destination over the past few years.

With the country’s excellent series of videos with varying messages and themes, they’ve inspired thousands of new people to come to a country they had likely never thought to visit before.

Portugal’s tourism board even created an Emotion Travel Guide for visitors looking to get the most out of their trip. It was one of the most brilliant travel industry marketing campaigns we’ve seen in the past few years. 

MGM Grand

MGM Grand created a unique campaign to promote its new LEVEL UP gaming center. They used a combination of storyteller-style native advertising and video advertising. The content was fun to navigate through and kept us on the edge of our seats when we first saw it. 

MGM Grand is clearly already well-established, but knowing how to reach out to a new crowd in such an exciting way was what truly surprised us. 

Inspired by Iceland

Inspired by Iceland, campaigns have been running since 2010. Each time we see one, they feel more and more exhilarating.

The visuals are absolutely stunning, and each campaign provides a unique, well-crafted look into the various ongoings of Iceland. From food to culture to nature and beyond.

Digital Ad Spend in the Travel Industry

Digital budgets are where the action is:

• Digital already eats up nearly four-fifths of every travel ad dollar worldwide and keeps growing, with YouTube and Instagram alone attracting 62% of that pot.

• TikTok Grew deeply into travel marketing, with 8% of all US digital ad dollars spent on the platform.
• Engagement soared: 66% of TikTok users used the app to research travel, and 60% discovered new destinations via TikTok.
• In the United States, digital ad spend in the travel industry has nearly doubled—rising from $4.72 billion in 2021 to a projected $9.41 billion in 2026. This rapid growth underscores the industry’s heavy reliance on digital channels to capture demand and drive bookings.

Search remains the workhorse for high-intent traffic, while display-native packages mop up inspiration moments; performance video is the fastest-rising slice of the pie.

FAQs

Do you have more questions?

If you’re looking for expert guidance to boost your travel advertising efforts, Mediaboom is here to help. Whether you need to create impactful campaigns, enhance your online presence, or leverage cutting-edge digital strategies, our team has the expertise to deliver results.

Let us help you connect with your audience and achieve your goals. Contact Mediaboom today to learn how our tailored solutions can elevate your brand and drive success.

Partner with a Leading Travel Advertising Agency for Success

In a world where trips are planned with a swipe, brands that connect first capture the booking. 

Success now rests on three pillars:

1. Targeted Strategy – Align media spend with high-intent audiences so every impression counts.
2. Creative That Sparks Desire – Stir emotion with vivid stories and scroll-stopping visuals.
3. Relentless Measurement – Track clicks, stays, and lifetime value, then refine for an ever-stronger return.

Mediaboom’s travel team has helped hotels and tour operators turn attention into reservations and repeat visits. We handle everything from concept to campaign analysis, freeing you to focus on guest experience.

Ready to see what focused digital advertising can do for your business?
Let’s talk about your goals and build a plan that moves you toward them—starting today.

By: Frank DePino

Frank DePino is the Principal and Founder of Mediaboom, a digital marketing agency that partners with top hospitality and luxury brands. With over 30 years of experience, Frank has led strategic digital marketing initiatives for iconic names including Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Millennium Partners, and Guardian Jet. He specializes in helping hospitality businesses elevate their brand presence, generate leads, and enhance guest experiences through website design, SEO, content marketing, and paid media. Under Frank’s leadership, Mediaboom is a trusted partner for brands seeking meaningful digital growth in the competitive hospitality landscape.