Despite an extended spending surge, travel remains a small industry for advertising

Travel will spend more than $2 billion on traditional media this year, but that figure is set to decline. At 21.6% of its total outlay, travel companies’ share of spending on TV, radio, out-of-home, and print ads almost mirrors the 22.3% national average. Although travel has not abandoned traditional media as much as some other industries, it is still a very small factor for traditional ad publishers, and its spending will fall going forward.

Travel’s affinity for large-screen advertising will keep its ads on traditional media to at least some degree. Travel industry products and services can look more tempting on TV screens (and billboards) than on small-format digital devices. Traditional media is also still useful for top-of-funnel national branding exercises, which fit well with broad-based tourism campaigns. Nonetheless, travel is slowly retreating from traditional media like almost every other industry.

Read the full report, US Travel Industry Ad Spending 2024.