Kurt Weinsheimer, Chief Product Officer at Sojern.
The holidays are here, which means consumers are gearing up for travel, and all signs are pointing to a banner year. According to Sojern’s data, U.S. flight bookings around the Thanksgiving holiday were up 4% compared to 2023, while travelers are flocking to lively (and expensive) destinations for Christmas, like London, Vienna and Paris.
While these holiday travel trends are positive for the travel industry, one thing is clear: If travelers are paying higher prices for better experiences, brands must deliver on their personal needs. And delivering requires the right strategies along the traveler’s journey. Here are the top digital marketing travel trends for 2025.
Personalized experiences reign supreme.
At this point it’s no secret: Travelers are prioritizing experiences. While this isn’t new (I highlighted this trend as we moved from 2023 to 2024, and research shows spending on experiences jumped 65% from 2019 to 2023), who is spending and how they’re spending has evolved. Regardless of discretionary income, experiences are driving purchasing decisions.
Many travelers are willing to spend big for those experiences, with concerts and sporting events being a prime example. In 2024, Taylor Swift concerts spiked hotel prices by up to 154%, and Swifties gladly footed the bill, while our data found that the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar spiked international lodging searches by 541% worldwide. With major events on the horizon in 2025 and 2026, such as Formula One and the FIFA World Cup hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, this trend will surely hold.
While some experience-driven travelers are willing to open up their pocketbooks, economic concerns are at the forefront of others’ minds, creating a larger gap between travel groups. But marketers shouldn’t rule budget-friendly consumers out.
By finding potential customers from the moment they express interest and bringing them into the experience using channels such as social, video and connected TV, marketers can take them from inspiration to action—and capture the conversion. For example, some brands are offering consumers the opportunity to book their own concert experiences directly from TikTok videos showing concertgoers.
The lines between digital and physical will continue to blend.
Like most industries, travel is becoming increasingly digital, with consumers using AI, apps and numerous other tools along the path to purchase. Currently, 65% of companies are trialing GenAI to increase personalization, improve operational efficiencies and create content, and that number will only continue to grow in 2025. As brands adopt more customer engagement tools, the lines between digital and physical will become increasingly blurry…but at what cost?
While new digital tools may seem convenient, customers still want personalization, and brands must deliver. According to Hotel Tech Report, 70% of guests prefer chatbots for simple queries but crave human connection for complex issues.
I discussed some of the ways brands can deploy successful AI strategies here, but a critical first step is setting precise goals around business outcomes to know when to rely on machines—and when to bring that human touch.
Next, understanding when AI tools need to provide precise outputs versus when they can offer more subjective suggestions will help you shape your data strategy effectively. For example, when a guest asks a chatbot what time the hotel restaurant opens and closes, the answer must be right.
However, when a guest asks which restaurant is family-friendly, your chatbot can rely on contextual data and other information to offer up a more subjective answer. As adoption increases and technology becomes smarter—think integrating voice, cameras and more this coming year to create a more immersive advertising experience—the right data strategy will become even more important.
Net zero and curation will finally have their day.
I know what you’re thinking: What do net zero and curation have in common? On the surface, nothing other than being emerging buzzwords. But let’s dig a little deeper. With both net zero (the focus on measuring and reducing carbon emissions) and curation (a digital advertising targeting technique that protects consumer privacy), regulation is driving new trends that will accelerate the adoption of both in 2025.
In travel, sustainability has been huge for years, with destinations highlighting how tourists can enjoy eco-friendly stays and minimize their impact on the environment to preserve the area for generations to come. In fact, global travel leaders recently met at the COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss how the industry can mitigate climate change.
While green hotels and transportation are important, the focus in 2025 will shift more to the business side. Every business has a digital climate footprint, and as brands rely more on GenAI and energy-intensive digital media tools, that footprint is growing.
Massive amounts of data equals massive energy output, and some companies, such as Google and Microsoft, are working to move their data centers to net zero, which will significantly reduce the energy required to run ads. Next year, travel brands will embark on the next phase of sustainability by measuring their digital footprints and enacting mitigation techniques.
Just as the world is moving toward net zero, it’s also moving toward privacy-focused advertising. While Google reversed its decision to deprecate third-party cookies, marketers are still looking for new ways to deliver personalized ads that protect privacy, and curation is emerging as a strong tool.
With curation, brands and buyers work with a supply-side platform to curate the right package of data, audiences and inventory, which is pushed to their own demand-side platform, matching curated audiences to available ad inventory. Curation doesn’t rely on third-party cookies, protects privacy and is more environmentally friendly.
Advertisers can curate “green inventory” that prioritizes things like efficient page loading to reduce energy usage, and, due to the streamlined nature of data processing, curation lowers the carbon footprint associated with deploying a campaign, making it the avenue of choice for advertisers in 2025.
As we close out 2025 and roll into a new year, marketers will continue to find new ways to woo potential customers. The brands that deliver experiences, find the right balance between digital and physical and reduce their carbon footprint while increasing personalization will stand out.
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