The holiday booking slump hits differently when you're a travel brand. While everyone else sells mittens and gift cards, you're convincing people to book trips they'll take months from now. Feels like the worst time to market travel, right?
Wrong. Dead wrong.
Smart travel brands know something their competitors miss: the holidays are when people dream the loudest. They're stuck at crowded dinner tables, wishing they were anywhere else. Scrolling through beach photos while snow piles up outside. The timing could be perfect.
Generic holiday marketing ideas fall flat for travel. You need tactics built for wanderlust, booking cycles, and the psychology of someone planning their escape.
Gift Experiences That Feel Like Actual Presents
Travel gift cards feel lazy, like handing someone a receipt instead of a gift. The person buying them senses it. The person receiving them definitely senses it.
What works is to present travel as a real gift that people can picture right away. Instead of a generic voucher, some brands package the experience itself. Escape vouchers arrive styled like vintage boarding passes, paired with printed photo albums that show the exact room, the breakfast spread, and the sunset view from a specific balcony. When people can see the experience clearly, gifting a trip feels thoughtful and effortless.
When the experience feels real, gifting a trip gets easier. As gifting gets easier, holiday bookings follow.
Three Packaging Strategies That Convert
Design downloadable "trip reveal" kits with itinerary previews and destination photos
Create physical gift packages (even simple ones) for popular routes or experiences
Offer "booking credit boxes" that feel like presents, with destination-specific packaging
The psychology works because people want to give experiences, but experiences are hard to wrap. Make it easy for them.
Want the complete playbook? Check out our Winning Holiday Strategies Guide for travel brands navigating seasonal campaigns.
Build FOMO With Countdown Campaigns
Many countdowns lean on vague urgency. “Only five days left.” Five days until what? The reason remains unclear.
Smart operators tie urgency to reality. Think Northern Lights peak season, wildlife migration windows, or festival dates with limited accommodations. A countdown linked to genuine scarcity, such as optimal viewing periods, weather windows, or seasonal closures, makes the urgency feel credible.
Consider tracking real events travelers care about: aurora forecasts, bloom seasons, and dry season windows. Build campaigns around specific high-probability dates backed by data. Emails with subject lines like "January 14th shows 90% clear sky probability" carry weight that "limited time offer" never will.
Create Real Scarcity
Tie countdowns to real events (festival dates, weather patterns, migration seasons)
Show availability ticking down for specific experiences, with dates attached
Create urgency around actual scarcity, such as limited guide availability or seasonal closures
When the countdown connects to something real, people believe it.
Make Past Travelers The Marketing Team
Past travellers are already the most credible marketers a brand has, especially during the holidays. The right nudge transforms their memories into conversations that influence real booking decisions.
The Advocate Playbook
Send past travelers destination-specific ornaments or holiday cards with personal trip callbacks
Create a "tag your travel buddy" social campaign with an entry to win a future trip
Film quick video messages from guides or hosts thanking repeat guests by name
People trust their friends' travel recommendations infinitely harder than they trust ads. Give them a reason to talk during holiday gatherings.
Dive deeper with our playbook, Dominate the Future of Travel & Hospitality, for what comes next.
Package Problem-Solving, Skip the Fluff
For travel brands targeting families, the holiday season is all about making planning easy. Parents are already juggling meals, gifts, and school breaks, so adding a vacation decision feels heavy.
Step into the shoes of your target buyer and focus entirely on removing friction: pre-planned itineraries, all-inclusive pricing, flexible booking with no fees, and curated packing lists.
Email subjects emphasizing “Hassle-free trip planning” perform better than those highlighting a 40% discount. Once the trip feels handled, booking becomes effortless and stress-free.
What Actually Converts
Lead with what your buyer wants (less planning stress, fewer coordination headaches, and minimal research)
Bundle everything into simple "book this exact trip" packages
Make cancellation and change policies completely clear upfront
Holiday minds crave ease. Provide it.
Final Boarding Call
The best travel brands sell dreams when people need them the most. They align timing with traveler psychology and remove barriers instead of relying on discounts.
Pick one tactic from this list. Run it this holiday period. Watch what happens. Then repeat what works for every holiday season ahead.
While competitors chase customers with tired discounts, leading brands will already be sold out.
