Propellic Releases A Travel Paid Media Benchmark Report Revealing the Hidden Cost of Peak-Season Travel Advertising

 

• For multi-day operators, peak booking season is the least efficient time to invest, with ROAS (Return of Ad Spend) more than doubling in shoulder season compared to peak demand.

 

• Data also suggests that peak-period traffic is not necessarily more conversion-ready, but largely driven by higher competition and extended research behavior rather than immediate booking intent.

 

AUSTIN, TX, June 3, 2026 – Propellic, the leading full-service travel marketing agency, has released today its Propellic Travel Industry Paid Media Benchmark Report, offering a comprehensive analysis on the travel advertising performance across the global travel industry.

 

The report, which draws from more than $250 million in observed ad spend across 120+ travel brands, reveals that travel operators frequently pay premium advertising costs during peak booking periods for travelers who may have converted regardless. This highlights a structural inefficiency in travel marketing that remains largely under-optimized.

 

According to Propellic, campaigns during peak booking season deliver an average ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) of 2.6x, while campaigns in shoulder season reach 6.3x. In other words, brands achieve more than double the return during lower-demand periods.

 

The study also shows that travelers booking in shoulder season spend within a 5% range of those booking during peak periods. This indicates that operators are not selling cheaper products during these periods, but rather the same type of trips to similar customers at a significantly lower acquisition cost.

 

This inefficiency is particularly pronounced in the multi-day travel segment due to longer booking consideration windows. Multi-day travel purchases often involve weeks or months of research, comparison, and consultation before conversion. As a result, brands are effectively paying peak-season premiums for clicks that do not convert any faster than lower-cost traffic acquired during quieter periods.

 

“Imagine July, when 50 tour operators are bidding on the same keyword such as ‘safari tours Kenya.’ A click that cost $3 in February may cost $11 during peak booking season, yet the traveler is no more likely to convert immediately,” said John Matson, Chief Revenue Officer at Propellic. “The longer the consideration window, the more peak-season auction premiums decouple from actual booking outcomes.”

 

Key Findings also include:

 

Travel sector performance varies significantly by category: the performance gap between average operators and top-performing brands reaches 68% in OTAs and marketplaces, 31% in day tours and experiences, and just 4% in multi-day tours.

 

Non-brand search dominates spend but underperforms in attribution models: across travel sectors, 83–90% of paid media budgets are allocated to non-brand search terms, yet these campaigns generate disproportionately fewer attributed conversions. In multi-day travel, non-brand campaigns account for around 90% of spend but only 74% of attributed conversions, highlighting a measurement gap between upper-funnel activity and final conversion tracking.

 

Many travel brands may be undervaluing upper-funnel campaigns: according to the report, attribution systems often over-credit branded search while failing to capture the influence of earlier non-brand discovery touchpoints.

 

“The brands outperforming competitors are not necessarily spending more aggressively, but rather implementing more sophisticated attribution infrastructure capable of measuring the full customer journey across discovery, consideration, and conversion,” concludes Matson.

 

2026 outlook: geopolitical instability is reshaping travel demand and paid media efficiency

 

Looking ahead to 2026, Propellic highlights that geopolitical instability is redirecting demand toward perceived-safer, shorter-haul destinations, while persistent inflation and rising fuel costs are pushing up trip prices and lengthening booking cycles. Together, these factors are widening the gap between peak demand and actual conversion efficiency.

 

At the same time, heightened health and safety sensitivity is increasing volatility in segments such as outdoor and adventure travel, while AI-driven search disruption and the rise of zero-click experiences are reducing available discovery touchpoints and intensifying competition for paid inventory, resulting in higher CPCs across the industry.

 

The full 2025 Travel Paid Media Benchmark Report is available at propellic.com/research.