The travel industry is highly competitive, with over 43,315 travel companies in the U.S. and 4,703 in the UK alone.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a solution for travel companies wanting to dominate the market and stand out from the competition.
With an average return on ad spend (ROAS) of 7.71% for travel services, PPC campaigns are excellent for brands looking to expand their reach, get more leads, and build brand awareness.
However, travel companies face several challenges when it comes to PPC ads, from high cost-per-clicks (CPCs) to long sales cycles.
The good news is that there are some effective strategies that can help you run killer PPC ads that outperform the rest.
In this article, we’ll discuss the main challenges of PPC for travel industry brands and how you can solve these through paid search, display ads, and remarketing.
The amount a travel company pays each time a user clicks on their ad.
This metric measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.
The percentage of users who click an ad and complete an action, such as making a booking.
The amount a travel brand pays to acquire a customer who completes a booking.
This metric measures the percentage of users who click on an ad after seeing it.
Let’s get started!
If you have a good understanding of how PPC works for travel companies, feel free to skip to our next section. If not, keep reading.
PPC for travel businesses is a form of online advertising where you pay a fee each time a potential customer clicks your ad.
Unlike search engine optimization (SEO) and other digital marketing activities where it takes time to see an ROI, PPC starts delivering clicks almost instantly if you’re getting it right. In fact, PPC can start delivering clicks and traffic within hours of going live. However, it’s worth noting that PPC campaigns do take time to see good results.
Travel companies use PPC campaigns to drive targeted traffic to their websites, increase visibility, and ultimately boost bookings.
These ads can appear on search engines like Google or Bing, as well as on social media platforms and travel-specific websites.
For travel brands, PPC campaigns can focus on various services, such as flights, hotels, vacation packages, safaris, and tours.
Below is an example of a PPC ad for a travel company based in Cape Town:
This competition leads to inflated CPC rates, meaning travel companies often spend a significant portion of their advertising budget on just a few clicks.
As CPCs rise, the cost of acquiring new leads increases, making it harder to maintain a profitable return on ad spend (ROAS).
Many companies end up burning through their ad budget too quickly without generating sufficient bookings or inquiries, which can make PPC campaigns unsustainable in the long run.
To counter high competition and CPCs, you can employ a data-driven approach focused on targeting long-tail keywords.
Instead of bidding on broad and expensive keywords, you should identify more specific, lower-competition keywords like “best boutique hotels in New York”, which has a CPC of $0.50.
These long-tail keywords attract highly relevant traffic and a lower CPC while improving conversion rates.
Travel demand is highly unpredictable and influenced by seasonality, holidays, and special events.
During peak periods like summer vacations, winter holidays, and major events—such as the Olympics or music festivals—search volume surges, and competition for travel-related keywords intensifies.
On the other hand, during off-peak seasons, demand drops significantly, leading to lower search volumes and conversion rates.
This inconsistency makes it challenging for travel companies to maintain steady traffic and optimize ad spend effectively.
Due to these fluctuations, travel companies must constantly adjust their PPC budgets and bids to align with demand. Without proactive management, travel businesses risk two significant issues:
➡️ Overspending during low-demand periods: If PPC campaigns run at full capacity when demand is low, ad budgets can be wasted on clicks that don’t convert into bookings.
➡️ Missed opportunities during peak seasons: If budgets and bids aren’t adjusted appropriately during high-demand periods, companies may lose visibility to competitors who are bidding aggressively to capture the influx of travelers.
To navigate these fluctuations, you need to implement a strategic approach that maximizes visibility during peak periods while preventing budget waste during slower seasons.
You should automatically increase bids when demand is high and scale down when traffic slows. This ensures optimal ad placements without the need for constant manual intervention.
Additionally, instead of running ads at the same intensity year-round, set up custom schedules to allocate higher budgets during peak seasons. This prevents unnecessary spending when fewer travelers are searching.
This prolonged decision-making cycle increases the cost-per-acquisition (CPA) since a single click rarely leads to an immediate conversion.
Without a structured remarketing strategy, potential customers can easily be lost to competitors.
You can optimize your PPC efforts by implementing remarketing tactics that keep potential customers engaged throughout their decision-making process.
You should leverage remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) to adjust bids for users who have previously visited your travel and tourism website but didn’t book.
By showing more competitive ads when they search again, your business can stay top of mind and increase the likelihood of conversions.
This prolonged decision-making cycle increases the cost-per-acquisition (CPA) since a single click rarely leads to an immediate conversion.
Without a structured remarketing strategy, potential customers can easily be lost to competitors.
You can optimize your PPC efforts by implementing remarketing tactics that keep potential customers engaged throughout their decision-making process.
You should leverage remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) to adjust bids for users who have previously visited your travel and tourism website but didn’t book.
By showing more competitive ads when they search again, your business can stay top of mind and increase the likelihood of conversions.
High cancellation rates make predicting revenue and optimizing PPC performance difficult.
To address these challenges, you can optimize their PPC campaigns by addressing travelers’ concerns head-on and aligning messaging with flexible policies.
Ensure that your copy prominently features reassuring messages, such as “Free Cancellation,” “Risk-Free Booking,” or “Change Your Dates Anytime.”
This approach increases ad click-through rates (CTR) and improves conversion rates by reducing travelers’ hesitation.
Many travelers use multiple devices throughout their booking journey. A typical potential customer might start researching destinations on their phone, compare flight prices on a tablet, and finalize their booking on a desktop.
If a user clicks on an ad on their phone but completes the booking on a desktop, traditional tracking methods may fail to connect these interactions, making it appear as though the initial ad didn’t convert.
You can overcome this challenge by implementing a comprehensive mobile and cross-device tracking strategy.
Ensure all PPC ads and landing pages are designed for seamless mobile experiences. You can see the full customer journey by integrating Google Analytics and the Google Ads platform cross-device reports.
Poorly localized ads may fail to resonate with potential customers, leading to lower CTRs and wasted ad spend. Travelers may also abandon the booking process if they encounter unfamiliar languages or currencies.
You should tailor your ads based on the user’s location, ensuring the content is relevant and resonates with specific regional markets.
Using geo-targeting techniques ensures travelers in different geographic areas see ads that align with their interests, needs, and local trends.
You can also run campaigns in multiple languages to cater to diverse customer segments, improving engagement and trust.
If ads focus on generic pricing, conversions may be low, as travelers will often choose the cheapest option available.
High CPC, combined with price-driven customers, can lead to reduced ROAS and profitability challenges.
You can attract price-conscious travelers while maintaining profitability by highlighting value propositions like package deals, loyalty rewards, or exclusive perks in ad copy to differentiate from competitors.
Travelers interact with multiple touchpoints—search ads, social media, mobile apps, and third-party booking sites—before making a final booking.
This fragmented journey makes it difficult to track which PPC efforts are driving conversions.
Without proper attribution, businesses may misallocate ad spend, overinvesting in channels that seem to perform well while underfunding those that contribute to early-stage engagement.
This can result in missed opportunities and inefficient budget distribution. It also makes it difficult to measure campaign success and optimize based on accurate data.
Ensure you use Google Analytics multi-channel funnel reports and attribution models to get a more accurate view of the entire customer journey.
Connect data across multiple platforms to measure real campaign impact and adjust bidding strategies and budget allocation based on in-depth attribution analysis.
If ads promote unavailable routes or outdated policies, travelers may lose trust in your brand, leading to lower CTRs and conversions.
Additionally, misinformation can result in wasted ad spend on users who abandon bookings due to unclear travel restrictions.
You can stay ahead of regulatory changes by regularly updating ad copy to ensure your ads reflect the latest travel policies, safety measures, and entry requirements. This helps build trust with travelers and aligns with current regulations.
Your strategy should also include pausing or modifying ads based on new restrictions to prevent wasted spend. Additionally, you should highlight flexible booking policies and verified safety measures to reassure travelers.
More than 70% of consumers expect personalization, with 76% expressing frustration when they don’t receive it.
Without this personalization, ads may not resonate with your target audience, resulting in lower results and wasted ad spend. Travelers are more likely to engage with brands that offer experiences aligned with their preferences.
Use dynamic search ads (DSAs), automatically adjusting ad content to match user searchers and website content.
Additionally, you should segment audiences and target users based on past behaviors, such as destinations browsed or previous bookings.
Crafting tailored ad copy highlighting specific experiences, offers, or traveler preferences is also essential.
Navigating the complexities of PPC advertising in the travel industry requires a strategic, data-driven approach.
From handling high competition and fluctuating demand to overcoming attribution issues and regulatory changes, Travel Leads offers the tools and expertise needed to optimize your campaigns for success.
By leveraging dynamic strategies like geo-targeting, personalization, and remarketing, we ensure your ads reach the right audience at the right time, maximizing conversions and return on ad spend.
Are you ready to skyrocket your travel company’s PPC efforts? Contact Travel Leads today and learn how we can help you drive more bookings and increase profitability with tailored, high-performance campaigns.
