It’s all about the journey – but which brands are along for the travel ride?

The ‘Brands We Travel With’ report highlights the different opportunities non-travel brands have to engage with travelers throughout their six-stage customer journey, from dreaming and planning to actually going. And this isn’t a once a season, small window of opportunity for advertisers: Tripadvisor's core audience, on average take 18 trips per year on average and their path-to-purchase generally starts two to three months before they even book.

“The end-to-end travel journey creates numerous moments for brands to connect with consumers,” says Matthew Dacey, Tripadvisor’s vice president of global marketing. “Travelers are not only open to new experiences and offerings but are also making some of their largest decisions on discretionary spend during this time.” But which groups of consumers are most likely to engage en route? And which categories and brands are flying high during the path to purchase?

Going from A to B: gen X versus gen Z

Although all travelers are leaned in, active consumers, advertisers would do well to get on board with younger audiences: they over-index in purchase consideration across every non-endemic category. 90% of generation Z and millennials engage with non-travel brands during their buying experience, compared to 81% of gen X and boomers.

No matter their age group, though, both audiences are brands’ passports for growth. As Tripadvisor’s general manager and vice-president of global media business, Christine Maguire explains, the travel platform’s logged in, large audience base send out “a lot of first party data signals that are really rich in nature, because they’re high intent… and are characterized by their high household income and their likelihood to make purchases across other categories.”

Prepare for take-off: popular categories and brands

1. Dreaming of wanderlust

Streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Spotify are increasingly popular among travelers these days—so what better way to reach them than via a dedicated travel platform? Marketers who spend ad dollars on platforms like Tripadvisor, where travelers are already seeking ideas and support for planning their holidays, are more likely to engage their audience than if they were competing for consumers' attention on an entertainment platform.

2. Getting down to detail

As trips are a big financial investment for many travelers, they turn to financial services to help maximize budgets during their planning stage – from money tracker apps to insurance or credit card miles. Financial service brands see a 39% boost in consideration during this phase, with consumers opting for services that offer convenience and robust safety measures. Paypal, Visa and Mastercard are favored by US and UK travelers, while GooglePay is more popular in India.

3. On the road

Alcohol, snack and fast food brands play a bigger role when travelers are en route and in-destination. Parents are 25% more likely to consider snacks and packaged foods during this stage, while gen Z and millennial travelers are 144% more likely to consider energy drinks on the road.  Meanwhile, alcohol consideration peaks by five times when in destination. And there are marked preferences for different brands per market across these categories. For example, Jack Daniel’s and Patron and the leading alcohol brands favored by US travelers, while UK travel consumers opt for Smirnoff and Gordon’s Gin, while Kingfisher Beer and Johnnie Walker whiskey is most likely to be found at the checkout in India.

“For brands that leverage these audience insights and incorporate travel solutions into campaign planning, every trip becomes an opportunity to create meaningful relationships and capture share with this group of highly engaged and receptive consumers,” Dacey comments.

To access the full ‘Brands we Travel with’ insights report and explore the opportunities for non-endemic travel brands, visit https://brandswetravelwith.tripadvisor.com/.