Travel brands aren’t holding back when it comes to ad spend. As some industries tighten their budgets, travel marketers are expected to up them 20% by the end of the year. In such a competitive landscape, understanding the key target audiences for travel brands becomes crucial for campaign success. If you want to capture your slice of the tourism pie, it’s worth taking a step back and analyzing your audience targeting strategy so you can tailor it based on travel preferences, needs and aspirations. What audiences are you targeting? As a travel brand, are you reaching those most likely to convert?
In this post, we use data from both the Lotame Data Exchange and external sources, to dive deeper into eight essential target audiences for travel campaigns, and the different types of market segments travel brands should consider.
Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, form a significant portion of the target audience for travel brands. This generation is known to prioritize sustainable and eco-friendly practices, often seeking out destinations and accommodations that align with their values. Travel brands can capture this audience by offering off-the-beaten-path destinations, adventure tours, and eco-friendly accommodations.
Here are a few other insights that will help you target millennials looking to travel:
Solo travelers form a growing segment of the travel market. These individuals seek the freedom and independence that comes with traveling alone. Solo travelers are motivated by self-discovery, personal growth, and the opportunity to meet new people. Travel brands can appeal to solo travelers by offering tailored experiences, group activities for socializing, and accommodations that foster a sense of community.
Other insights to help you target solo travelers:
Families, with their specific needs and preferences, are an essential target audience for travel brands. Family travelers look for destinations and accommodations that cater to the interests and safety of their children. They prioritize family-friendly activities, spacious accommodations, and convenient amenities. Travel brands can attract families by offering packages that include kid-friendly activities, family suites or villas, and dedicated childcare services.
Other interesting stats to help attract family travelers include:
Business travelers are often on the move, seeking seamless travel experiences that prioritize convenience, efficiency, and connectivity. Travel brands can attract business travelers by offering business-friendly accommodations, meeting facilities, and convenient transportation options.
Here are some other helpful insights for targeting business travelers:
Adventure seekers form a niche audience within the travel market. These adrenaline junkies are driven by the desire for thrilling experiences and pushing boundaries, including activities like hiking, rock climbing, scuba diving, and bungee jumping. Travel brands targeting adventure seekers should focus on offering adventure packages, expert guides, and access to exhilarating activities in breathtaking locations.
Interesting insights on adventure seekers include:
Luxury travelers represent a segment that seeks exclusivity and personalized service. These individuals have high purchasing power and are willing to splurge on extraordinary experiences. They prioritize luxury accommodations, fine dining, and access to exclusive amenities. For travel campaigns targeting luxury travelers, brands should emphasize their high-end offerings, exceptional service, and attention to detail.
The rise of remote work has given birth to a new breed of travelers known as digital nomads. These individuals combine work and travel, leveraging technology to stay connected while exploring the world. Digital nomads value destinations with reliable internet connectivity, co-working spaces, and a vibrant community of like-minded individuals. Travel brands can appeal to digital nomads by offering co-living and co-working spaces, networking events, and travel experiences that accommodate their work schedules.
Additional insights for reaching remote work travelers:
Wellness travelers seek to rejuvenate their mind, body, and spirit while on vacation. This target audience prioritizes destinations and accommodations that offer wellness programs, spa treatments, yoga retreats, and healthy dining options. Travel brands can capture the attention of wellness travelers by promoting their wellness-focused amenities and partnering with experts in the field.
Interesting data trends to know about wellness travelers and tourism include:
So you’ve determined the key target audiences most relevant for your specific brand and travel campaigns. But how do you effectively deliver those campaigns, and ensure they perform to their maximum potential? Here are some other quick audience-targeting tips for travel brands:
Interest-based targeting is a powerful strategy for travel brands to reach consumers when they are researching trip ideas and travel experiences. By utilizing a mix of demographic, household, employment, and lifestyle segments, travel brands can effectively target specific audience groups and tailor their messaging accordingly.
Travel brands should also consider engaging niche audiences that are gaining prominence. The rise of solo adventurers, digital remote workers, or even wellness travelers presents an opportunity for brands to tailor their messaging toward different audience segments. For example, if a travel brand wanted to target adventure seekers, they might focus on unique interests such as green energy living or ecotourism. Brands can then create targeted campaigns that resonate with these types of travelers.
To drive consideration and differentiate their brands throughout the travel shopping journey, travel marketers can leverage digital audience solutions, such as Lotame’s end- to end data collaboration platform, Spherical, which can provide valuable insights into their target audience’s intentions and preferences. By integrating first-party customer data with automated audience solutions, travel brands can unlock personalization opportunities at scale, allowing them to tailor their messaging and offerings to individual customers’ needs.
Identifying and understanding the key target audiences for travel brands is essential for developing effective marketing strategies and delivering personalized experiences. Choosing the right audience segment for your travel brand depends on what you’re trying to accomplish as a business. Lotame’s data collaboration platform, Spherical, empowers digital marketers to unite, analyze, and activate data for innovation and growth.
By tapping into our data-informed audiences, you’ll build more accurate personas, drive audience growth, enable data connectivity, and ultimately get the maximum value from your first-party data. As a travel brand, you’ll begin to cultivate loyalty among your customer base and establish yourself as a trusted partner in fulfilling customers’ travel dreams.
Seeing is believing! Watch this short demo to see the Spherical platform in action.
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