Executive Summary

US travel advertisers will increase their digital ad spending by 21.4% to $10.86 billion in 2019. Meanwhile, total US digital ad spend will grow by 19.1% this year. Travel advertising growth is slightly outpacing the growth found in other verticals because increased competition and a strong economy is leading travel companies to boost their ad budgets in order to increase market share.

What is travel’s share of total US digital ad spend?

Travel will account for 8.4% of total US digital ad spend in 2019. Its share will rise slightly to 8.6% in 2020.

How much money do travel advertisers spend relative to other industry verticals?

Travel will be the sixth-largest industry vertical in terms of overall ad spend this year. Increased competition and a strong economy is causing travel companies to increase their marketing budgets in order to capture more market share.

Which digital ad formats are popular with travel advertisers?

Travel will continue to lean heavily on search. We expect search to account for 53.7% of total travel digital ad spend in 2019. That portion is well above the ad industry average of 41.5%. Compared with all other verticals we track, spending on search by travel advertisers accounts for a higher percentage of total digital ad spending. This makes travel the most search-driven vertical we cover.

How much money will travel advertisers spend on mobile?

US travel advertisers will increase their mobile spending by 25.1% to $7.62 billion in 2019. Mobile will account for 70.1% of travel ad spend this year and 72.1% in 2020.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report includes our annual breakdown of US travel industry digital ad spending. It includes a comprehensive overview of total digital ad spending, as well as estimates by channel, device and format.

KEY STAT: The US travel industry will increase its digital ad spending by 21.4% to $10.86 billion in 2019.