As Publisher Travel Ad Spend Beats 2019, New Trends Emerge

As travelers begin planning their long-overdue vacations, brands and publishers are responding with custom advertising campaigns that reflect the new motivations of travelers, such as regenerative travel, undiscovered backyard gems and accessible international travel. Travel-advertising spend began to rebound in earnest this summer—after repeated uncertainty—for industry-adjacent publishers, and many are now seeing their related revenues approach 2019 levels, sources told Adweek. To capitalize on this resurgent interest, publishers like The Washington Post, Atlas Obscura and Travel + Leisure are running campaigns in partnership with brands like Marriott Bonvoy, Land Rover and destination tourism boards to accommodate the concerns about and inspirations behind traveling at the moment. “We're definitely seeing an uptick in the travel space,” said Steven Bloom, the managing director of enterprise partnerships at Omnicom Media Group. “The media partners that we've been working with have been trying to develop some new opportunities and features that we can put our clients' advertising dollars behind.” Travel ad revenues beat 2019 levels At the Travel section the The Washington Post, advertising revenues have returned to their 2019 levels, said chief revenue officer, Joy Robins. Traffic to the Travel vertical is up 50% compared to 2020 and 15% compared to 2019, according to the publisher. The Washington Post Amps Up Its App Strategy to Drive More Subscribers At Atlas Obscura, advertising budgets began returning at the beginning of Q3, and the publisher has already booked as many travel ad partnerships as it did in all of 2019, said its vp of revenue, Amanda Hale. The publisher continues to see interest from non-endemic brands looking to associate themselves with travel, and its travel revenue by the end of 2022 is on track to increase 10 fold on 2019 figures, according to Hale. In September, traffic to the Travel + Leisure website hit 14 million unique visitors, a 35% increase from the year prior, according to Comscore. In its print magazine, which reaches nearly 1 million subscribers, the number of ad pages rose 48% in Q3 compared to the previous year, climbing from 96 to 142 in the three-month period, according to the publisher. Regenerative travel, immersion and local Travel brands have long gravitated toward bespoke content, according to Bloom, due to the importance of context when trying to influence vacation decisions. Now, different trends are emerging. In a campaign with hotelier Marriott Bonvoy in October, The Washington Post selected three underrepresented storytellers––Charlotte Simpson, Jaylyn Gough and Jeff Jenkins––to explore the concept of regenerative travel, where consumers prize wellness, an enrichment of self and a desire to contribute to the recovery of the communities they visit, said head of The Washington Post Creative Group, Scott Weisenthal. The Post has paired these stories with an array of interactive components. “One of the things we've seen is that people want to learn about their potential travel destinations through immersion: they want to experience it before they actually experience it,” Weisenthal said. “Innovations like photogrammetry, 360 video and multi-perspective allow us to tell the types of travel stories that make people feel like they're there before they're there.” At Travel + Leisure, the publisher has responded to the tentative return of international travel by working with tourism boards from Canada and Mexico. The two destinations fulfill travelers’ desire for getting out of the U.S. while avoiding the logistical snares of venturing further abroad. “Some of our adjacent neighbors are spending pretty aggressively right now because their borders are opening up,” said Giulio Capua, the svp group publisher of Travel+Leisure and Food & Wine. Closer to home, Atlas Obscura partnered with Land Rover on a partnership called Rediscover Adventure, which introduces readers to travel destinations in a drivable vicinity and launched Wednesday morning. As part of the collaboration, Land Rover sponsored the launch of the new Atlas Obscura app, which debuted Nov. 1 and has surpassed 10,000 downloads, according to Hale. The campaign emphasizes the availability of adventure in the backyards of would-be adventurers. The messaging reflects the booming drive sector of the travel industry, which has remained largely unscathed by travel bans and safety concerns. It also allows Atlas Obscura opportunities to work with destination tourism boards for cities across the country, like Travel Portland and Discover Los Angeles. “Travel has changed, but at its core, people just want to reconnect with the world and do so authentically,” Hale said. “That has been what Atlas Obscura has stood for forever, and now it’s really resonating.” Pivoting to Partnerships Kept Atlas Obscura Afloat—Despite a Wavering Travel Market

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As Publisher Travel Ad Spend Beats 2019 Levels, New Trends Emerge

Regenerative travel and ease of access are front of mind

Mark Stenberg

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