If 2022 was the year of revenge travel, then 2023 is travel’s villain era. According to data, not only do people plan to take more trips in 2023 than 2022, they also plan to spend more money on travel than they did last year. While this is clearly a boon for travel apps, as they say: “a rising tide lifts all boats”. With spring break and the busy summer travel season just around the corner, learn how you can market your app to capitalize on the surge in travel, even if your app doesn’t provide a travel-related service.

The rise of set-jetting

You read that right — “set-jetting,” not to be confused with “jet-setting” — is a rising trend in the travel sector. Set-jetting is the act of making travel destination decisions based on a favorite TV show or Hollywood film. In the content cacophony of our media streaming landscape, it seems like there’s always a new binge-worthy series to stream. This has given rise to entertainment-based tourism with travelers setting their sights on specific destinations based on shows like The White Lotus, Yellowstone, and Emily in Paris. According to a recently released report by American Express Travel, 70% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers say they have "been inspired to travel to a destination after seeing it featured on a TV show, news source, or movie." How can you market your app to capitalize on this trend?

  • Tips for entertainment apps: Leverage the rise of set-jetters by retargeting users with viewing recommendations of shows set in beautiful locations. If the data is available, segment and target users who have recently booked travel with streaming recommendations. If the inventory is available, bid on ad impression opportunities in travel apps!
  • Tips for travel apps: It’s time to consider CTV advertising. With summer travel on people’s minds, it’s a good time to invest in ad inventory on streaming apps. Segment and personalize your ad creatives to align with the content a viewer is streaming.

Younger generations have travel on the brain 

According to the American Express Travel report, 84% of Gen Z-ers and Millennials surveyed would rather take a dream vacation than purchase a new luxury item. Furthermore, 79% of individuals in these generations agree that travel is an important budget priority.

The takeaway?

If your brand caters to Gen Z and/or Millennials, then your marketing campaigns should leverage travel-related creatives and messaging.

{For a compromise guide on how to advertise to Gen Z based on the latest mobile usage trends, read our recent blog here.}

  • Tips for retail apps: Design a range of ads that include messaging about shopping for tropical destinations and upcoming vacations. Retarget these ads to the Gen Z and Millennial segments of your audience.
  • Tips for photo editing apps: As individuals in younger demographics often create content using photo editing apps, retarget users by promoting filters, editing tools and features that are best for editing vacation photos.

Advanced booking and long-term travel

Travelers are planning their trips earlier than ever before. Also according to the American Express Travel report, 7 in 10 respondents said they were likely to book trips 3 to 6 months in advance of their plans.

A majority of respondents were also looking to book longer-term travel, especially with the ongoing rise of digital nomadism. According to Upwork, 36.2 million Americans will work remotely by 2025. This is double the amount of remote workers during pre-pandemic times (16.8 million). With remote work a common practice following the pandemic, many people are blending work with adventure and extending their travel plans even longer.

Today, according to Nomad List, digital nomads are 44% women, 40% non-white, and an average of 33 years old. They work a variety of jobs in the knowledge economy, from marketing, UI/UX design and product management to software development.

  • Tips for travel apps: If your app provides anything from flight booking to accommodations, it’s good to know that people are planning their travel farther in advance. Use retargeting campaigns on owned and paid channels to re-engage users up to 6 months in advance of peak summer travel season — June, July and August — to set your brand up for success.
  • Tips for productivity apps: Use retargeting to highlight use cases and features users can use to work more efficiently while globe-trotting.

Wellness and self-care travel 

This year, travelers are more focused on planning trips fueled by wellness, self-care and food tourism. That said, they’re interested in going outside the box. According to Hotels.com (owned by Expedia) 53% of US travelers in search of wellness activities want something exciting and new. In other words, people aren’t just looking for another yoga retreat but are curious to try new and, possibly, obscure activities like forest bathing (also known as sylvotherapy), foraging, fruit harvesting, and beekeeping. What’s more, according to the American Express Travel report, in addition to “set-jetting,” there’s been a renewed emphasis on self-care and wellness travel this year.

  • Tips for meditation apps: Use retargeting on paid and owned channels to promote features of your wellness app that can be used on-the-go. Produce content (blogs, articles, etc.) featuring wellness retreats and activities that align with your brand.

Takeaways

According to data, not only do people plan to take more trips in 2023 than 2022, they also plan to spend more money on travel. Market your app by capitalizing on this boom in travel.

  • The rise of set-jetting. More people are booking trips based on their favorite binge-worthy shows. Entertainment apps should retarget users with streaming recommendations of shows set in beautiful destinations.
  • Gen Z and Millennials are traveling more. Retail and photo editing apps should target the younger segments of their audience with travel-related product recommendations and features.
  • Advanced booking and long-term travel. Digital nomadism has given rise to longer-term travel and advanced booking. Travel apps should retarget users earlier to capitalize these trends. Productivity apps can highlight features with retargeting that make remote work easier.
  • Wellness and self care travel. With more people booking wellness-related travel, meditation apps should promote features that enhance mindfulness on-the-go.

Use the travel boom to re-engage your users 

With the busy summer travel season on the horizon, it's time to market your app with travel-related messaging. Reach out to our team to get started.