It’s no secret that travel is a highly seasonal industry. This gives you all the more reason as a tour company to focus on holiday marketing ideas to maximize interest and engagement.
When executed properly, strategically thought-out holiday marketing ideas can help you sell a lot more tours.
So, what is the best strategy to tackle this?
Start planning these marketing sales strategies well ahead of time so that you can have a clear roadmap to follow for the year ahead. This will help you plan out the type of promotions your business will offer, and the kind of holiday marketing content you’ll create as the year progresses.
In this guide, we’ll provide some of the best holiday marketing ideas your travel business should consider in 2023.
Focusing your marketing efforts on key holidays allows you to tap into a market of people who are toying with the idea or strongly considering taking the plunge on booking a trip. This can help your holiday marketing ideas reach more people, generate more awareness, and result in more sales.
Simply put, targeting the right audience with the right content during key times of the year could be the catalyst for them making a booking.
Holiday marketing ideas are also an effective way to diversify your travel marketing strategy. Instead of concentrating on the same marketing messages throughout the year, you can strategically target holidays and events to help you keep things interesting.
This makes for more innovative content for people who follow your business, and it gives you more opportunities to attract new customers and reengage your existing customers.
Of course, the travel industry is massively reliant on holidays. People use the opportunity to travel to see family or go on vacation to a scenic destination or for a sporting opportunity (surfing, skiing, etc). By focusing your travel marketing efforts around holidays, you can provide all the more reasons for your customers to make bookings.
Here are a few things to keep in mind to help your holiday marketing ideas achieve better results.
In order to run a successful holiday marketing campaign, you need to plan well in advance. Whether you’re running a giveaway or offering a special travel deal, people need sufficient time to make travel purchase decisions and budget accordingly.
Planning in advance will also enable you to grow your reach by tapping into a broader market.
Using WeTravel, you have the option to include unlimited packages and add-on options. This will enable you to create a variety of pricing packages for your clients. This could include different availability, deposit amounts, payment plans, cut-off dates, and loads more.
Ensure your travel marketing campaign has a clear goal. What are you focusing on around this holiday and how does it resonate with what your business offers?
Refrain from merely hopping onto a popular holiday, but rather make sure that your business has a clear message that it uses to target interest around the specific holiday.
Perhaps the different holidays you choose have a social responsibility significance to your brand. Use WeTravel’s Contribution Pages For Fundraising to provide a solution within your booking system. This will enable your customers to create GoFundMe-like websites that can be shared with their friends and family.
Make sure that the terms and conditions surrounding your holiday marketing campaigns are very clear. People should understand exactly what your holiday promotions include. This is especially important if you offer special packages or promotions for a holiday.
Using WeTravel, you can add your own T’s & C’s. They can be displayed on your booking pages right below the “Confirm Purchase” button. This is a useful option for providing improved chargeback protection.
The type of campaign you choose should depend on the specific holiday and what kind of travel services your business offers. Here are some of the most popular holiday marketing ideas your travel business can utilize.
Discount codes are an excellent way to push impulse buys or turn interested prospects into paying customers. You can use them in your holiday marketing campaigns by offering special holiday-themed discount codes for your trips.
With a platform like WeTravel, you have the option to control how many times a discount code is used with the Flexible Pricing Option feature.
This is a useful way to add extra value to holiday promotions. You can enhance your existing tours and travel experiences with extra add-ons, like free meals or transfers. Try to make these add-ons relevant to the holiday so that they make the promotion more enticing.
Many travel companies create special offerings designed around a particular holiday. This could be centered around the general theme/event etc, and appeal to the kind of travelers who want to book experiences in line with this holiday.
Your travel business could also offer an extra layer of personalization in its holiday travel promotions. Instead of offering the same old tours and experiences, you could offer personalized or customized experiences for the holiday.
What’s even better for personalized experiences? Personalized payment options.
WeTravel offers a useful feature for customizable deposits and installments. This allows customers more flexibility for installments, optional auto-billing, and more.
As we’ve established, you need to plan ahead if your marketing ideas tailored around specific holidays are going to be a success.
To help you map out your seasonal marketing and sales campaigns, here are the top holidays your travel business should consider.
When is it celebrated: February 14th, every year
When should you start advertising your offer? At least two weeks in advance
Campaign messaging idea: Focus on couple travelers and promote romantic getaways. Offering all-inclusive couples retreats, or throw in added extras to your regular holiday packages (like spa treatments, romantic dinners, rose petals on the bed, rooms with a private hot tub, etc).
Alternatively, you could also promote wellness retreats to single travelers during this period.
When is it celebrated: 17 to 23 February
When should you start advertising your offer? One month in advance
Campaign messaging idea: If your travel business offers trips to New Orleans, then this is the ideal time to heavily promote these trips, as Mardi Gras is a major tourism driver to the area.
When is it celebrated: 4th - 11th March
When should you start advertising your offer? Start early, up to three months in advance
Campaign messaging idea: If you offer trips to Florida then this is the time to attract college students with cheap deals. Try to offer Spring Break specials well in advance so that you can capitalize on a hectic travel period. You could include accommodation and flight packages suitable for younger travelers.
When is it celebrated? March 8th, every year.
When should you start advertising your offer? Three weeks in advance
Campaign messaging idea: Empower female solo travelers to explore the world, dive into different cultures, to live once-in-a-lifetime experiences while being safe and free.
As for the offer, you could provide your female solo travelers a discount code to embark on March, April, and May (to boost sales in slow months).
When is it celebrated? March 20th, every year.
When should you start advertising your offer? One week in advance
Campaign messaging idea: To keep enjoying all the beautiful things the world has to offer, we need to help preserve it and do our part.
WeTravel offers an exciting feature called “Optional Carbon Offset”. This will allow travelers to contribute a portion of their trip costs to help offset their carbon footprint.
When is it celebrated: 7 to 9th April
When should you start advertising your offer? Three weeks in advance
Campaign messaging idea: Make the most of the long Easter weekend and treat yourself or your family to a local getaway. Offer a discount code or special holiday package for travelers over this weekend.
This is a busy time for travel, so you’ll want to set yourself apart to stay ahead of the competition.
When is it celebrated: June and July
When should you start advertising your offer? 2-3 months in advance
Campaign messaging idea: This is the peak season for travel, so it’s the perfect time to make the most of the busy season with special promotions and offers.
Try not to offer tours that are too heavily discounted during this period, as demand will be high. However, you could offer special summer break holiday packages, include special add-ons to your packages, or offer limited-time summer-themed holidays over this period.
When is it celebrated: 4 July, every year
When should you start advertising your offer? One to three weeks in advance
Campaign messaging idea: Celebrate our beautiful country this Independence Day with a trip to experience everything the USA has to offer. This is an ideal time for travel businesses to promote cultural tours or trips that celebrate American heritage. You could run a special offer on various local travel itineraries.
When is it celebrated: 4th September
When should you start advertising your offer? Three weeks in advance
Campaign messaging idea: End off Summer with a bang with special Labor Day travel deals. This is one of the best holiday marketing ideas to promote travel experiences for the slower winter months ahead. You could offer discount codes or special deals on booking tours following the end of the busy Summer season.
When is it celebrated: 23rd November
When should you start advertising your offer? One month in advance (or earlier)
Campaign messaging idea: Make the most of Thanksgiving this year by treating yourselves and your loved ones to an unforgettable holiday. This is the ideal time for travel companies to promote family-focused holidays, special Thanksgiving packages, or travel discounts.
When is it celebrated: 24th November
When should you start advertising your offer? One month in advance
Campaign messaging idea: As you already know, Black Friday presents a major opportunity to sell travel experiences through discounts and special offers. You could use promo codes and limited-time offers to ramp up sales. This is a great opportunity to sell discounted travel experiences for the slow season.
When is it celebrated: 25th December
When should you start advertising your offer? Three months in advance
Campaign messaging idea: Celebrate Christmas with a holiday you’ll never forget. You could advertise festive winter holidays leading up to Christmas, or offer a special Christmas promotion on holiday experiences as gifts.
When is it celebrated: 31st December
When should you start advertising your offer? One month in advance
Campaign messaging idea: Bring in the New year in style with one of our special holiday packages. This is a time of year when people want to indulge in special experiences and treat themselves, so it's a great opportunity for travel businesses to promote their truly special experiences.
This is also an ideal time for wellness and retreat businesses to offer “new year, new me” packages.
In order to run successful holiday marketing campaigns, you need to map out your strategy early on, and include the right offers to entice your prospective customers to book a tour.
This can help you with sales during the slow travel seasons, grow your customer base, boost sales at peak seasons, and generate more consistent revenue throughout the year.
Using the Calendar-Based Booking Widget from WeTravel will enable you to add a calendar with all the available booking dates right to your website. This will allow your customers to see all the availability and make a booking without having to leave your website.