Looking to reach travelers where they’re hanging out online whether through clever paid ads, chatbots that actually make your day, or user-generated content that feels more like a friend’s recommendation than an ad?
In this post, we’re diving into how some of the most creative tourism brands use innovative tourist marketing strategies to grab their guests’ attention and get them excited enough to book directly on your site.
What is Tourist Marketing?
Tourism marketing is the process by which operators advertise their tours, experiences, and attractions to potential customers. Unlike the old days of billboards, flyers, and basic print ads, today’s tourism marketing relies on various channels, both online and offline.
The goal today is to establish a brand that not only attracts travelers but keeps them around as loyal customers. And that makes digital marketing front and center. Operators know that most customers are going online to find things to do. Tourism companies now leverage social media, email, or content marketing channels to reach those customers at the right time.
And yes, it’s a lot for a single operator to manage. That’s why bigger companies have entire marketing teams dedicated to the task. Yet frameworks like the Five Ps are here to help us. It’s a roadmap that breaks down the five essential elements that every marketing plan should focus on:
- Product: Your product or experience. This is where you’d refine your offerings, such as a museum expanding to offer virtual tours.
- Place: Helps you decide on the best channels for reaching visitors. Should you prioritize social media or rely more on local partnerships (like with your tourism board) for bookings?
- Price: Choose your pricing strategy. The goal? Set competitive prices that match your target audience’s willingness to pay, but also reflect the value of the experience.
- Promotion: How will you reach your target audience? What channels will you use to communicate with them? You could partner with a local hotel for bundled pricing to market yourself to tourists. If your attraction is seasonal, you might offer a limited-time discount on social media to drive bookings during slower seasons. There are endless ways to promote your attraction—understanding who your audience is and where they hang out will determine your approach.
- People: It’s all about the people. Your attraction should always be cultivating exceptional customer service. Guides and employees should be friendly and knowledgeable, making visitors feel welcomed when they walk in the door.
The Five Ps in Action
So, what does this look like in real life? Let’s run through a scenario where a zipline operator uses the Five Ps approach to promote its adventure course.
The first step is to improve the product, or in this case, the zipline course. The operator introduces a new photo package that captures epic pictures of guests soaring through the air. These photos are offered for purchase at the end of the course, providing added value to the experience.
Next, the operator decides to promote the new photo package through visual-focused platforms like Instagram and TikTok. They may also run a campaign encouraging guests to share their photos on Instagram with a special hashtag, offering discounts or incentives for the most creative posts.
To make the adventure more accessible and appealing to families, the operator introduces a new price tier: the family bundle ticket. This bundle offers better value during the off-season, where families can book tickets for two adults and two children at a discounted rate.
Next, they need to make sure the places customers go to book the experience are easily accessible. This means improving the website’s checkout process to make booking easier, allowing guests to easily add the photo package to their cart and confirm the reservation in just a few clicks.
Finally, people like friendly staff and passionate guides play an important role in making the experience memorable. Staff should be trained to engage with guests, making them feel safe, comfortable, and excited for the adventure ahead.
Top 12 Tourism Marketing Real-Life Examples and Why They Work
From Disney to the Scottish railway system, here are the brands inspiring us with their tourist marketing.
1. Experience Kissimmee’s Zip Line Rides
Experience Kissimmee set up a zipline in Millennium Park during the heart of winter in a clever campaign to entice Chicagoans to visit Florida. The “Escape Cold. Warm Your Heart” event featured free zipline rides, hot cocoa, and photo ops with a baby alligator. Participants also had the chance to win prizes, including, of course, a vacation to Kissimmee.
This campaign worked because it created a bite-sized version of the experiences visitors could expect in Kissimmee, a warm destination to escape during Chicago’s harsh winter. The destination strategically planned the activation during the city’s cold and dreary winter months, contrasting that with the warm, sunny adventures waiting for everyone in Florida. The interactive elements—like the zipline and alligator photo opportunity—quickly captured attention and drove interest in visiting Florida.
2. Tourism New Zealand’s “If You Seek” Campaign
Tourism New Zealand’s “If You Seek” campaign promotes the country as a year-round destination, focusing on off-peak adventures that can be had in every season. The campaign shares striking visuals and stories across various platforms, including user-generated content with the hashtag #IfYouSeekNZ. It’s a great example of a multi-faceted content marketing campaign. And by leveraging UGC that emphasizes off-season experiences, the campaign fulfills the goal of inspiring travelers to consider New Zealand beyond peak seasons.
3. Kayak partners with influencers to show off its app
Kayak partnered with travel influencer @livnewman__ to promote its travel app on TikTok. In the video, the influencer demonstrates how the app helps her plan her weekend getaway. She filters through hotel options based on her preferences, like “fitness” and “pool,” before checking into a beautiful room, enjoying the pool, and exploring the fitness center.
The goal was to showcase how easy it is to find a hotel that meets your needs, positioning Kayak as a trusted partner for booking the best stay for any vacation.
The campaign effectively shows how practical the app can be. Kayak can connect with viewers who value convenience and personalized experiences when planning their trips by highlighting specific features that cater to user preferences.
4. ScotRail: “Your Ticket Goes Further Than You Think”
ScotRail’s latest ad campaign is a masterclass in targeting multiple audiences with one powerful message. The campaign highlights Scotland’s diversity, from the rugged outdoors to historic cities, to highlight that Scotland has something for everyone.
Then there’s the clever tagline, “Your ticket goes further than you think,” which works on two levels. On one hand, it encourages domestic travel by showing how easy it is to travel to these spots via the ScotRail network. On the other hand, it emphasizes that taking the train isn’t just a convenient way to get around—it’s a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to explore Scotland’s beauty without the massive carbon footprint.
So the campaign isn’t just about promoting a mode of transport; it’s also capitalizing on the sustainable travel trend, inspiring travelers to explore different, eco-friendly methods of travel in their own country.
5. Inspired by Iceland: A UGC Win
The Iceland tourism board nailed it with their #InspiredbyIceland campaign. They encouraged travelers to share their best moments in Iceland—chasing waterfalls, exploring glaciers, or simply taking in the surreal beauty. The results were significant: People flooded social media with beautiful photos and personal stories, showing why Iceland is a must-visit destination in their own words. This was UGC marketing at its finest. The strategy led to a massive 50% increase in visits to the country, proving that when UGC is used strategically, it can reshape a brand’s image.
6. TripAdvisor’s Influence on Travel Decisions
TripAdvisor has become a go-to platform for travelers seeking reviews on places, hotels, tours, and experiences. Whether it’s a hotel stay in Paris or a hike in the Andes, people want to read firsthand experiences by those who have already done it.
That being said, reviews are the ultimate form of social proof. The authenticity builds trust with customers still on the fence about booking with you. So, a solid reputation on TripAdvisor and other platforms like Google, Facebook, etc. can be a game-changer for your attraction.
Focusing on increasing your online reviews is a marketing strategy in and of itself. Positive reviews help drive more bookings and boost your visibility online. And when you respond to feedback and thank guests for their comments, it demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction, further establishing a sense of trust with potential customers.
7. Paris Zoo: Animals on the Loose
Sometimes, getting creative pays off. Take the Paris Zoo, for instance, which took its marketing to the streets with a playful campaign to celebrate its reopening. The zoo placed giant, open animal crates in iconic locations around the city, creating the illusion that animals had escaped the zoo.
The campaign reached every type of person: Commuters heading to work, tourists visiting the Eiffel Tower, and families hanging out in the park. This campaign’s brilliance lies in transforming everyday spaces into a sense of wonder, sparking curiosity in the public, which simply wasn’t used to seeing big animal crates in these everyday locations.
By using familiar environments in unexpected ways, the zoo generated buzz and piqued the interest of nearly everyone who walked by. This campaign is a great reminder that sometimes, the most effective ads are the ones that add a touch of surprise to everyday life.
8. Paid Social Campaign: Priceline’s Kaley Cuoco Collaboration
Priceline worked with TV star Kaley Cuoco to film a series of funny episodes where the actress encourages her coworkers to book their dream vacations using Priceline’s affordable travel options. The twist? Over $5 million in hidden, interactive deals were exclusively available through the social ads, adding an exciting gamification element.
This campaign was a hit not only because of its creative use of humor but also for its deep understanding of Priceline’s target audience. Priceline found that 76% of U.S. workers are happier when they travel, yet more than half cite price as a barrier. So the brand directly addressed this pain point. The campaign won Digiday’s Best Use of Social Awards and achieved millions of views on YouTube, demonstrating the power of combining entertainment with targeted messaging.
9. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ Chatbot
KLM Airlines uses an AI-powered chatbot—BlueBot—as a key part of its marketing strategy. On the one hand, BlueBot serves as a premier customer service feature, offering 24/7 support in multiple languages via Facebook Messenger. On the other hand, it also plays a vital role in shaping KLM’s brand. The chatbot reflects the airline’s commitment to making travel easier by offering quick and personalized service. If BlueBot can’t fully answer a question, it smoothly transitions the user to a live agent. By integrating this chatbot into the customer journey, KLM improves its customer service and promotes itself as a modern, customer-focused airline. The result? Customers get their questions answered quickly and gain the confidence to book.
10. Disney’s “This is Magic” Social Campaign
Disney’s “This Is Magic” campaign was about sharing authentic guest moments with the world. Rather than relying on scripted ads, the team filmed real visitors experiencing magical moments in the park, guests meeting beloved characters, crying during the firework show, or getting proposed to. There were no set scripts—just raw footage of an emotional moment.
Disney then shared these moments in real-time social on Instagram stories takeover, allowing audiences to feel the magic as it happened. The result was an ad campaign that felt as genuine and heartfelt as the experiences themselves. The campaign’s simplicity resonated with visitors and the wider public, contributing to the brand’s legacy of creating lasting, joyful memories.
The campaign’s reach extended to over 107 million people, showing us how social media marketing can be used to create a truly emotional connection with guests.
11. River & Trail Outfitters Nail the PPC Ad Game
After overhauling its PPC strategy, adventure operator River & Trail Outfitters began creating ads that better aligned with the most relevant keywords its audience was searching for. In this case, it was phrases associated with “ rafting, tubing, and adventure tours.” The operator focused on creating a mix of search and display ads that targeted those keywords.
The display ads featured eye-catching visuals of their outdoor adventures, and the landing pages were optimized for conversions, with clear calls to action, easy navigation, and exciting content about their offerings. The results were immediate and impressive: within weeks, their PPC program achieved 5X total return on ad spend, and that number grew to over 9X for ecommerce revenue, eventually reaching 15X in the following season.
12. Delta’s On-Site Activation at SXSW
Delta Air Lines created a buzz at SXSW with a sleek pop-up lounge in downtown Austin. The lounge took over a restaurant and offered visitors free drinks, snacks, and branded merchandise—clearly designed to reflect the comfort of Delta’s airport lounges. Frequent flyers were treated to a VIP experience, solidifying the idea that staying loyal to a single airline does have its perks.
This is an excellent example of an on-site, in-person activation that leaves a lasting impression on guests. The branded merchandise, the sleek lounge, and the coffee align with the brand’s mission to provide meaningful experiences to travelers as they fly around the world.
By incorporating design elements and interactive experiences that match your brand’s vibe, your attraction can also create a successful in-person activation. Consider pairing it with a local event, like Delta did with SXSW, to reach even more people.
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The tourism marketing landscape constantly evolves with brands increasingly turning to digital channels and interactive experiences to engage their audience. Whether creating memorable campaigns through social media or taking a tech-forward approach with AI-powered chatbots, these examples show how creativity and authenticity can set a brand apart. As travelers’ expectations continue to grow, the key takeaway is that successful tourism marketing blends storytelling, customer experience, and strategic use of digital tools to create lasting connections with guests.
