With the size of the travel agency market in the UK alone expected to reach £25.7 billion in 2023, the travel sector is a huge industry where competition is often fierce.
This competition, along with customers looking between several travel providers online before choosing who they want to book with, means that providers need to effectively cultivate relationships with customers and stand out from the crowd.
The travel industry represents one of the most digitized customer journeys and travel businesses must use every channel available to them in their marketing strategies to build a positive reputation, stay ahead of the competition and continue to identify and engage new audience segments.
Below, we explore some of the biggest emerging trends that will shape how travel businesses can stay on top.
Immersive digital experiences
New digital experiences powered by augmented and virtual reality are reshaping customer journeys across multiple industries, allowing people to try before they buy in digitized spaces.
As these technologies evolve and continue to become more advanced, they offer unparalleled engagement as an advertising and marketing tool, especially in the travel sector where customers can experience destinations, accommodations and activities before booking.
Video content
Content has always been an important component of driving traffic in the travel industry, but fast-growing video content platforms like TikTok offer new potential to unlock audiences.
It’s not hard to see how travel businesses in particular have a competitive advantage when it comes to video. Short video content that showcases vacation experiences, beautiful visuals, and unique and aspirational destinations all work to engage and delight viewers while driving increased organic traffic.
With such high competition in the travel sector, this type of customer engagement allows you to build a community around your business and brand, and the storytelling opportunities offered by video content are perfectly suited to connect with your audience in a way that encourages repeat business.
Niche influencers
While many may think of big celebrity endorsements when they think of influencer partnerships, in reality, collaborations with influencers are much more effective when they have a smaller, more engaged audience.
These niche influencers have become a driving force for travel recommendations, especially among younger demographics, with one study finding that 86% of people became interested in traveling to a specific destination after seeing influencer-related content on their social media channels.
Influencer partnerships are becoming a key part of an effective social media strategy, driving organic interest and increasing brand credibility while reaching new audiences.
Using Instagram
With over 300 million posts containing the word ‘travel’, Instagram is one of the most powerful and influential channels for travel businesses, allowing them to create lasting relationships with customers and build a community around their brand.
The platform offers some of the highest levels of engagement, with an average of 58% more engagement per follower than Facebook, while SEO and Instagram integration allows your business to achieve higher search engine rankings.
A future without cookies
Much of the travel industry relies on third-party cookies for its marketing campaigns and advertising. As Google began phasing out cookies this year, driven by privacy concerns and higher user expectations, travel businesses will need to re-evaluate their ad targeting to accommodate these changes and make better use of data from first countries available to them.
Additional investment in creating high-quality digital experiences for customers will take on a new level of importance, encouraging consumers to share data in non-intrusive ways, such as through a strong social media presence.
Keeping SEO on trend
As many of the trends in the travel sector reflect wider changes in the market and in consumer interests and expectations, it is vital that travel businesses integrate these changes into their SEO strategy to continue targeting the right audience with relevant ads and content .
Your SEO strategy should reflect these wider industry developments such as virtual reality and other technologies, as well as consumer travel trends such as the rise of green travel, ensuring you capture these audience segments and stay ahead of the curve.
Final thoughts
Travel company services are constantly in demand, but in a crowded and competitive market, differentiating yourself and your brand is key. Keeping up with emerging trends means staying ahead of the competition while using new ways to build both brand reputation and long-term customer relationships.
Michael Ryan is CEO and Director at Digital ink.
