Zenith Forecasts Travel Ad Spend Will Climb 36 Per Cent In 2022

Travel advertising will grow quickly as brands revive their consumer relationships following the COVID-19 pandemic, says Zenith’s Business Intelligence – Travel report, published today.

Zenith predicts travel advertising in 13 key markets – including Australia, the UK and the USA – will grow 24 per cent in 2021, twice as fast as the advertising market as a whole, before 36 per cent growth in 2022 and 19 per cent growth in 2023.

The adspend jump follows the tourism industry’s gradual re-emergence after a tumultuous year in which the travel ad market lost a staggering 46 per cent of its value, in comparison to the ad market as a whole which shrank just four per cent.

The report also highlights the importance of brands adjusting to the post-COVID world, in which remote meetings replace business travel, and consumers demand more environmentally conscious, low-carbon travel.

“As travel begins to recover from the unprecedented drop in demand in 2020, brands are rebuilding their relationships with consumers, using digital technology to guide them at every stage,” said Jonathan Barnard, Head of Forecasting, Zenith.

“Online video in particular will play a key role in creating emotional connections with consumers, inviting them to take their first step on their digital journey.”

However, it’s reported travel adspend will be still 33 per cent below its 2019 level this year, while the ad market as a whole will be 7 per cent ahead. It won’t be until 2023 when travel exceeds 2019 levels of spending, in which its projected to reach US$19.6bn (AU$27.01bn)

That said, given the largely digital nature of travel advertisements, Zenith forecasts travel brand’s digital adspend will grow by 6 per cent a year between 2019 and 2023.

This means in Australia, by 2023, travel brands will be spending 61 per cent of their budgets on digital advertising, an increase from 54 per cent in 2019.

“Travel was one of the earliest sectors to embrace digital as booking went online,” said Ben Lukawski, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Zenith.

“Post-COVID, the best-performing brands will complete this transformation by making the total experience digital, from reducing form filling to contactless entry, removing nearly all possible friction from the experience.”

If Zenith’s projections are accurate, then its great news for an industry which has desperately needed some over the previous two years.

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