9 Online Promotion Ideas for Modern Travel Agencies

With travel and tourism GDP predicted to grow on average by 5.8% a year within the next decade, (outpacing the growth of the overall economy) there’s plenty for travel agencies to feel optimistic about.¹

However, in order to take advantage of this thriving market, travel companies need to shake up their promotional strategies.

From SEO, and social media, to the big promotional opportunities provided by virtual reality (VR), we’ve rounded up some travel agency promotion ideas that will help you reach, and appeal to, customers.

Suggested reading: Download our free eBook: Why the Travel Industry Will Survive and Thrive Post-Pandemic. It’s packed with tips on how to run a stable business throughout times of economic uncertainty.

1) Optimise SEO for increased visibility

Conduct keyword research to find relevant words that describe what you do, and the services you provide. Focus on long tail keywords like “family package holidays” or “luxury beach holidays” to attract potential customers who are in the early stages of their path to purchase.

Create local landing pages for the regions you serve, with specific keywords related to those locations. Implement exclusive travel offers, and dynamic discounts, to entice visitors to explore your agency’s offerings.

Regularly update and publish high-quality content. Combine brand tone of voice with carefully selected keywords. Write about what’s currently trending (for example wellness retreats, or European cities).

Champion sustainability. In 2023, 50% of global travellers said they wanted to travel more sustainably even if this meant higher costs.² Make sure your trips or offers feature elements of sustainable travel, and use relevant keywords on your site, to show you’re working towards minimising your environmental impact.

2) Collaborate with influencers, advocates and partners

Identifying and collaborating with travel influencers and advocates who align with your brand is key to great promotions for your travel agency. Encourage these ambassadors to share the amazing experiences they’ve had with your agency. Use user-generated content across all your social media platforms, and share personalised discount codes influencers can use, just for their followers.

Pro tip: The travel industry is rife with promotions — so prioritise using software that generates unique single-use discount codes: ideally with interstitial landing pages that can issue these codes in a secure, simple way. This means they can only be used once and are immune to spamming or manipulation.

3) Offer immersive virtual experiences

The virtual tourism market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.2% between 2023 and 2028. This provides an opportunity for travel brands to offer customers memorable interactions, and stay relevant in a competitive space.³

Travel agency promotion ideas using this new technology could include:

Creating virtual guides of popular travel destinations.
Allowing your audience to take an in-detail hotel tour, so they can make informed decisions before they book.
Designing AR (augmented reality)-powered treasure hunts around a city’s famous places, to turn the excitement up a notch.

4) Build loyalty programs and consider affiliate marketing

79% of customers are more likely to make repeat purchases if they’re offered a personalised experience.⁴

Create a truly personalised experience for repeat customers, to make them feel appreciated and recognised for their continued support. Implement referral bonuses, to expand your customer base, and encourage clients to spread the word about your excellent services.

Affiliate marketing can also help you quickly expand your reach. With the right affiliate marketing strategy in place, you can reach new audiences, and quickly boost revenues. Travel affiliates can promote your travel packages, hotels, and all other travel-related products. Work with influencers, bloggers, and complimentary businesses who have a strong presence online and good engagement rates.

Make sure you provide your affiliates with access to your brand collateral and templates for imagery. Allow them access to unique discount codes they can use exclusively for their audience.

Case study: Avis - Driving Engagement in loyalty from the get-go

The problem: Avis struggled with engagement and loyalty, especially when challenged with the popularity of comparison sites. They wanted customers to engage with their loyalty program, and entice new members to make their first purchase.

Solution: Avis placed welcome messages on relevant pages, to drive engagement for new Preferred customers. They engaged Preferred customers with emails featuring exclusive offers and used unique codes to control these offers. Auto-applied codes in checkout ensured only people who had been targeted were able to use promotions.

Results: 12.6% lift in conversion rate, with 1K Avis Preferred customers engaged.

5) Get active on social media

Effective travel agency promotion ideas to showcase your brand include:

Uploading stunning destination photos and videos, on social media.
Engaging with followers by posting comments, messages, and polls.
Developing a content calendar to make sure you post regularly and consistently.
Running targeted ad campaigns on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Creating travel-themed, interactive contests, or giveaways, featuring unique discount codes, or experiences, as prizes.

Make sure to track the success of your social media campaigns, so you can optimise future promotions.

6) Personalised email marketing campaigns

The best travel agency promotion ideas involve personalisation. Segment your email lists, and send tailored communications, targeted promotions, and exclusive coupon codes, to individuals, based on their previous trips, preferred activities, or browsed destinations. Newsletters are a great way to keep customers informed, with information on your latest deals, travel tips, and destination highlights.

Unique codes that have an expiration date/time also play a big role here. The time-sensitive nature of these promotions incentivises customers to act quickly and can even lead to potential upsells. For example, after a customer books a hotel, you can send them a unique code that gives them a discount on a room upgrade — as long as they use it within the next week.

Pro tip: Use an advanced promotions platform to automate the distribution of your emails, including targeted promotions based on customer behaviour and interactions.

7) Mobile optimisation for travellers on the go

Make sure your website and booking platform are mobile-friendly. Over 800 million people used a travel app in 2022, so having a mobile app for seamless booking and travel updates is essential.⁵ Optimise your email campaigns for mobile, and use mobile-responsive coupon codes in your app for seamless promotions.

Use a promotion platform’s mobile optimisation features to ensure a user-friendly experience on mobile and tablet.

8) Customer reviews and testimonials

Let your customers be your brand ambassadors by encouraging them to leave positive reviews. You could do this by offering them unique discount codes to apply on their next trip.

Showcase customer testimonials on your website, and across all your marketing touchpoints. Respond promptly to reviews, whether they are positive or negative, and use this valuable feedback to address concerns, and improve.

9) Use promotion codes to drive conversions

Conversions are arguably the biggest pain point for businesses within the travel space. The industry has one of the highest shopping cart abandonment rates, while websites offering cruise and ferry travel services have the highest rate of all at an eye-watering 98% abandonment rate.⁶

A huge factor in this comes down to shifting tides in demand. Overcome seasonal slumps by using unique promotional codes to direct people to travel options that are underutilised during the high season. Use codes on your website, travel comparison sites, voucher sites, and social media platforms.

Engage with potential customers, by displaying tailored promotions to them as they browse your site. Limited-time offers and discount coupons are valuable tools to use at checkout.

Pro tip: Make sure you support your promotions with appealing visuals, clear messaging, and effective campaign planning and management.

Case Study: Travelodge - Autumn Sale Campaign

The problem: Travelodge faced challenges in controlling and targeting the use of discount voucher codes, limiting their ability to offer strong promotions to drive bookings in specific hotels or for certain dates.

Solution: By partnering with Uniqodo, Travelodge was able to create a responsive, targeted Autumn Sale campaign. This campaign featured tiered discounts up to 30%, dynamically adjusted for each hotel based on capacity and date. Promotion channels included email marketing, social media (organic and paid), digital display advertising, paid online search, and onsite messaging using Uniqodo's Canvas overlay functionality. Uniqodo also implemented sophisticated validation rules to ensure discounts reached the intended audience without misuse.

Results: The campaign resulted in the highest volume of bookings in a single trading week for Travelodge, showcasing the effectiveness of targeted discounts and the capability to adjust offers based on real-time data and analytics.

Bring your travel agency promotion ideas to life with a Promotion Experience Platform

Managing all of your promotional ideas requires automation. Uniqodo provides a host of tools to creatively target your audience while minimising promo code abuse. We work with some of the world’s leading travel brands such as TUI, Expedia and Avis, helping them create engaging onsite experiences for their customers.

From loyalty and referral schemes, to drive retention, to seamless affiliate programs, we also create expert coupon code solutions to give you total control over your promotional campaigns.

We hope the above has given you a few travel marketing ideas to help you stand out and generate more business. If you’re looking for a partner to help you boost your promotional strategy in 2024, Uniqodo can help. Simply schedule a demo to find out more about our services.