Change is inevitable in every industry, and with travel marketing entering a particularly dynamic period, where should our focus lie as we move into a new year?
1. The website experience
In 2025, AI overviews have impacted the amount of traffic being pushed to websites from Google, and 2026 will see an even bigger drop as the search experience continues to change.
When users do eventually land on your website, it’s going to be more important than ever to get them to convert. If you’ve not reviewed your booking process, landing pages or search features, it’s worth spending time and money on an optimisation process to encourage visitors to engage and book.
2. Words matter
While it might be difficult to change a booking flow or search page, it should be relatively straightforward to update your website’s words and images. Too many now contain poor AI copy and imagery, which will put off ‘AI savvy’ travellers. In addition, AI tools and Google look unfavourably upon uninspiring or generic content.
3. Review your tracking
Spending money on paid media is a sure-fire way to increase website visitors; however, Google and Meta need effective conversion data to optimise their AI algorithms. Failure to provide this detail will ultimately result in an inefficient approach and lead the algorithm to optimise the wrong thing. This is an essential ‘to do’ for 2026.
4. The detail is in the data
‘We can’t tell you which tours are most profitable’ or ‘we’ve no idea on our repeat bookings’ are just a few of the comments I’ve heard recently from travel marketers. Without good data, marketing – and business decisions – are guess work at best. With web traffic going down, paid media costs are likely to increase and if you want to battle back, data is your weapon.
5. Follow the curves
The general feeling among the travel marketing speakers at the recent Abta Travel Trends event was that booking curves and patterns are continuing to evolve. If peaks in 2026 performs worse than expected, it should not be seen as a crisis. Demand for travel remains strong, yet the point at which people commit to a booking is likely to fluctuate. When planning your marketing in 2026, expect to flex with demand and have more of an ‘always-on’ approach – rigid plans are unlikely to yield success. The more agile you can be and the more attention you give to existing customers, the stronger your chances of starting the new year with a bang.
As 2026 approaches, travel marketers and operators face a changing landscape. Success will hinge on refining the website experience, elevating the quality of content and ensuring tracking is robust enough to fuel smarter optimisation.
Amid this change, the opportunity is clear: brands that invest in stronger data foundations, meaningful customer engagement and flexible planning will be best placed to thrive.
