SEATTLE—Expedia Group Media Solutions, the global digital advertising organization of Expedia Group, has revealed further details on its destination relief program, part of Expedia Group’s $275-million commitment to helping travel partners rebound from the impact of COVID-19 and fuel industry-wide recovery efforts.
To help reignite travel demand to destinations, Media Solutions is making $25 million of advertising relief available, which includes products, programs and media value add from Expedia Group brands for display campaigns across Expedia Group sites. Several brands within the Media Solutions portfolio—including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, Wotif, ebookers and CheapTickets—are offering customized brand recovery packages with flexible and scalable advertising solutions to help generate and capture traveler demand for destinations.
“As travel restrictions lift, people will be eager to reschedule missed trips and plan new adventures, meaning millions of travelers will visit our sites to research, plan and book travel,” said Hari Nair, SVP, Expedia Group Media Solutions. “With the reach and scale of Expedia Group’s global brands, we can effectively show travelers that destinations are open for business and ready to welcome visitors again, helping advertisers maximize their investment and fuel destination demand, while also contributing to tourism recovery around the world.”
How to Participate
The global program focuses on stand-alone and co-op campaigns to revive destinations running before the end of January 2021. Destinations and tourism organizations, as well as lodging, transportation, activities partners and other advertisers looking to promote a destination, can be eligible for the program by signing up by Sept. 1.
- Stand-alone campaigns, for advertisers funding a campaign independently to promote a destination, offer flexibility with objectives, campaign components and spend levels.
- Co-op campaigns, for advertisers that want to maximize campaign reach through partnership to promote a destination, enable multiple advertisers to collaborate on a collective campaign to minimize ad spend and maximize conversion. By sharing marketing budgets and business objectives, all partners—from destinations to airlines to in-market hotels, activities and more—benefit from promoting the destination to travelers.
“We’ve taken a destination-led approach with this relief program, as destinations play an important role in bringing all tourism stakeholders together to strategize and align on a path forward when a crisis occurs,” said Wendy Olson Killion, VP of business development, Expedia Group Media Solutions. “Developing a positive destination message is an important and effective way to improve perceptions and keep a destination top of mind with potential visitors, which in turn positively impacts businesses and services within the area, including lodging and accommodations; restaurants; tours and activities; airlines; and more.”
Media Opportunities
Advertisers can select from a comprehensive range of recovery packages, helping them to reach the right traveler, with the right content and media placement, on the Expedia Group brand site that meets their needs to promote a destination. Packages for both stand-alone and co-op campaigns are powered by Media Solutions’ comprehensive suite of display advertising formats and innovative solutions to connect with travelers throughout their path to purchase including the following:
- Destination-of-the-week emails help advertising partners reach and educate potential travelers through sponsored content around cohesive destination themes.
- Destination landing pages highlight bespoke destination content, information and deals to raise awareness among a highly targeted audience.
- Coupons, for package bookings, activities, lodging and more inspire booking and traveling to a destination and encourage conversion through special discounts and incentives.
- Destination spotlight sponsorship value add puts destinations front and center in travelers’ minds through native placements.
- Brand social media placements, including Instagram Stories and posts, enable destinations to connect with travelers in unique and inspiring ways.
“As travelers begin to dream about their next trip, they are looking for inspiration, information on the state of travel at their destination, and, of course, peace of mind,” said Peter Kern, vice chairman/CEO, Expedia Group. “Therefore, we believe that messaging in the right way will play an essential role in the travel industry’s recovery. The products, resources and insights provided by the Media Solutions’ relief program will help our supply partners reach travelers when the time is right and rebuild destination demand, setting the stage for sustained growth over these next critical months. As part of Expedia Group’s broader relief initiative, this program is one of the many steps we’re taking to support our valued travelers and partners, and to help rebuild a more resilient and sustainable travel industry for the years ahead.”
