According to a report by AI content generation and decisioning platform Persado, a sizeable chunk of the population still prioritise travel, but digital marketing’s role in motivating them appears to be minimal.
According to the study, most travellers still choose their travel destinations because of personal ties.
25% went by family/friend invitation, 23% traveled to visit friends and family nearby, 21% visited a repeat destination, and 15% were recommended the destination by a person they trust.
Just 19% were influenced by digital marketing-driven campaigns that involved social influencers, email promotions, and sponsored social media posts.
For these reasons, Persado notes that it’s critical for brands to invest in the whole booking journey, not just advertising.
“Most travel and hospitality brands invest significantly in personalizing their digital booking experience, yet neglect their checkout page, a critical component of the booking journey,” explained Alex Olesen, VP of Vertical Strategy and Product Marketing at Persado.
Olesen suggests leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools to better understand customers and the motivations driving then to make purchase decisions.
“There’s a massive opportunity to enlist cutting-edge AI technology to understand customers’ individual emotional drivers and create language that is proven to excite them to book and increase lifetime customer value,” Olesen said.
Economy, debt’s impact on travel plans
According to the study, consumer debt impacts travel plans — 34% of consumers limit their travel frequency due to debt and 25% go for less expensive trips — yet people are still prioritising travel. In fact, 75% are planning to take the same or more vacations in 2023 than they did in 2022.
Furthermore, the study found that personal debt isn’t holding travellers back. While 50% of those ages 41-56 (Gen X) noted cost as the biggest barrier preventing them from traveling now, they were more than twice as likely as those ages 18-24 (Gen Z) to carry a credit card balance following their billing statement after paying for a trip.