With the market size of travel agencies in the UK alone worth £25.7bn in 2023, the travel sector represents a huge industry, and one in which competition is often fierce.

That competition, along with customers browsing between several travel providers online before selecting who they want to book with, means providers must effectively cultivate relationships with customers and stand out from the crowd.

The tourism industry represents one of the most digitised customer journeys, and travel businesses must leverage every channel available to them in their marketing strategies to establish positive reputation, remain ahead of competitors and continuing identifying and capturing new audience segments.

Below, we explore some of the biggest emerging trends that will shape how travel businesses can stay on top.

Immersive digital experiences

Novel digital experiences powered by augmented and virtual reality are reshaping customer journeys across multiple industries, allowing people to try before they buy in digitised spaces.

As these technologies develop and continue to become more advanced, they offer unmatched engagement as an advertising and marketing tool, especially within the travel sector, where customers can sample destinations, accommodations and activities before booking.

Video content

Content has always been an important component of driving traffic in the travel industry, but high-growth video content platforms such as TikTok offer new potential for unlocking audiences.

It’s not hard to see how travel businesses in particular have a competitive advantage when it comes to video. Short-form video content that showcases holiday experiences, beautiful visuals and unique and aspirational destinations all work to engage and delight viewers, while also driving increased organic traffic.

With competition so high in the travel sector, this type of customer engagement allows you to build a community around the business and brand, and the storytelling opportunities offered by video content are ideally suited to connecting with audiences in a way which encourages return custom.

Niche influencers

While many might think of big celebrity endorsements when they think of influencer partnerships, in reality, influencer collaborations are far more effective when they have smaller, more engaged audiences.

These niche influencers have become a driving force for travel recommendations, especially among younger demographics, with one study finding that 86% of people were interested in traveling to a specific destination after seeing related influencer content on their social media feeds.

Influencer partnerships are becoming a key part of an effective social media strategy, promoting organic interest and increasing brand trust, while reaching new audiences.

Leveraging Instagram

With over 300 million posts containing the word “travel”, Instagram is one of the most powerful and influential channels for travel businesses, allowing them to create lasting relationships with customers and build a community around their brand.

The platform offers some of the highest rates of engagement, with an average of 58% more engagement per follower than Facebook, while the integration of SEO and Instagram enables your business to attain higher search engine rankings.

A cookie-less future

Much of the travel sector relies on third-party cookies for their marketing campaigns and advertising. With Google beginning its phase-out of cookies this year driven by privacy concerns and greater consumer expectations, travel businesses will need to reevaluate their ad targeting to adjust to these changes and better leverage the first-party data at their disposal.

Further investment into creating high-quality digital experiences for customers will take on a new degree of importance, encouraging users to share data in non-intrusive ways such as through a strong social media presence.

Keeping SEO on trend

With many of the trends in the travel sector reflecting wider shifts in the market and in consumer interests and expectations, it’s vital that travel businesses integrate these changes into their SEO strategy to continue targeting the right audiences with relevant advertising and content.

Your SEO strategy should reflect these wider developments in the industry like virtual reality and other technologies, as well as consumer travel trends, such as the rise in eco-conscious travel, ensuring you capture these audience segments and stay ahead in the rankings.

Final thoughts

The services of travel companies are continually in demand, but in a crowded and competitive market, differentiating yourself and your brand is key. Keeping pace with emerging trends means staying ahead of competitors, while leveraging new ways to build both brand reputation and long-term customer relationships.

Michael Ryan is CEO and Director at Ink Digital.