The travel ad spend rebound continues: report

It’s no secret that travel is back. And with it, travel advertising.

After a serious pullback in 2020, travel advertisers are spending…a lot. So much so that ad spend in the category surpassed pre-pandemic levels by Q4 of last year, according to a report from TV measurement company EDO.

From July 2022 to June 2023, travel advertisers spent an estimated $1.2 billion on TV spots, a 15% increase in investment year over year, per EDO, with hotels and resorts leading the charge.

Hotel, motel: The hotel and resort category spent an estimated $327 million on TV ads in that time, an 83% increase. That’s more than the air travel and cruise segments combined—perhaps unsurprising considering hotels and resorts make up the largest segment of the travel industry, according to the report.

• That spend funded 167,000 total airings for a total of 67 billion impressions.
• Engagement volume—a metric that tracks a brand’s engagement levels minutes after an ad airs—of those ads doubled when compared to the same period a year prior.

Cruisin’: The cruise segment made a significant comeback as well, spending an estimated $198 million on TV ads over the past year, up 5%, totaling 53,000 airings and 26 billion impressions. Engagement volume peaked in January, a 5x increase from the month prior and a 105% increase YoY.

Come fly with me: Despite bumpy skies in the airline industry, like high ticket prices and staff shortages, consumers are eager to fly. As a result, the report said air travel brands have advertised less, with estimated spend at $54 million, down 46%. Airings and impressions were also down to 12,000 and 6 billion, respectively. Engagement fell throughout much of last fall and winter, then picked up in March before falling again, according to the report.