Products

Insider Intelligence delivers leading-edge research to clients in a variety of forms, including full-length reports and data visualizations to equip you with actionable takeaways for better business decisions.
Reports
In-depth analysis, benchmarks and shorter spotlights on digital trends.
Learn More
Forecasts
Interactive projections with 10k+ metrics on market trends, & consumer behavior.
Learn More
Charts
Proprietary data and over 3,000 third-party sources about the most important topics.
Learn More
Industry KPIs
Industry benchmarks for the most important KPIs in digital marketing, advertising, retail and ecommerce.
Learn More
Briefings
Client-only email newsletters with analysis and takeaways from the daily news.
Learn More
Analyst Access Program
Exclusive time with the thought leaders who craft our research.
Learn More

About Insider Intelligence

Our goal at Insider Intelligence is to unlock digital opportunities for our clients with the world’s most trusted forecasts, analysis, and benchmarks. Spanning five core coverage areas and dozens of industries, our research on digital transformation is exhaustive.
Our Story
Learn more about our mission and how Insider Intelligence came to be.
Learn More
Methodology
Rigorous proprietary data vetting strips biases and produces superior insights.
Learn More
Our People
Take a look into our corporate culture and view our open roles.
Join the Team
Contact Us
Speak to a member of our team to learn more about Insider Intelligence.
Contact Us
Newsroom
See our latest press releases, news articles or download our press kit.
Learn More
Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities
Reach an engaged audience of decision-makers.
Learn More
Events
Browse our upcoming and past events, recent podcasts, and other featured resources.
Learn More
Podcasts
Tune in to eMarketer's daily, weekly, and monthly podcasts.
Learn More

US travel industry will gain just $550 million back in digital ad spending after 2020's $3 billion loss

The forecast: The US travel industry this year remains largely impacted by the pandemic, even as travel has picked up in H2. This sluggishness is due to paused cruises, a near standstill in business travel, and restrained international travel.

Pent-up consumer demand has given travel advertisers a reason to spend this year, but campaigns are still focused more on messaging about cleanliness on trains, planes, and in hotels. Additionally, due to months of closed borders and unreliable flight schedules, advertisers pivoted away from international travel and toward local and regional destinations.

A deeper dive:

  • Less than a third of people in the US traveled in 2020, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association. And while companies like Delta expect leisure travel to rebound this year to 85% of pre-pandemic levels, business travel remains frozen at industry lows, limiting advertising budgets.
  • A decline in 2020 hotel bookings also resulted in limited advertising budgets in 2021.
  • Travel’s share of the overall digital ad pie is now under 2%, with the rebound expected to be closer to three to five years out, per our estimates.

Looking ahead:

The US travel industry is not seeing quite the same bounce back in digital ad spending as other industries have seen in 2021, and a lot of this is due to stunted business travel and international travel. Regional airlines, small to medium-sized hotels, and independent travel agencies may have to shutter as their budgets decrease.

Those companies equipped to weather the storm will continue doing so for years to come, as US digital ad spending in the travel sector will take until 2023 to near even 2018 levels ($4.54 billion versus $4.80 billion, respectively).