With major holidays, breaks from work and school, and the desire for a change in weather, winter is one of the busiest seasons for air travel each year. This year, nearly 2 in 3 Americans are planning travel between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, representing a seasonal travel intent increase of 14% from 2024! A range of travel and tourism brands are aiming to influence upcoming winter travelers and capture the rising tide of seasonal fliers with advertising campaigns across our digital networks in both commercial and private airports.
Influencing Winter Travelers with Airport Advertising
Skiing, snowboarding, and other snowy activities are a central part of the winter tourism season and their popularity continues to rise; the 2024-25 ski season was the second-busiest season on record, with a total of 61.5 million skier visits. With winter sports enthusiasts and holiday travelers boosting monthly passenger volume across the country, this is an ideal season for tourism destinations to promote their winter appeal.
Snowmass Tourism and New Mexico Department of Tourism are doing just that; both brands are running wintry creatives across full airport digital activations in warm weather markets including Los Angeles, Dallas Fort Worth, and Houston international airports. According to traveler research by McKinsey, experiential factors like the quality of local activities (63%) and the drive to explore something new (61%) rival cost and accessibility as core drivers of destination choice.
Moreover, data from the OAAA shows that two-thirds of consumers who have noticed OOH ads say they are very/somewhat influential when it comes to where they travel and more than half have added a destination to their bucket list after seeing it advertised in an OOH ad. Pairing these key drivers with a highly influential mass reach platform is guaranteed to be a successful strategy in promoting 2025 winter tourism.
Capturing Luxury Leisure Hospitality Spenders
Influencing the holiday travel plans of the ultra-wealthy poses a different challenge from the everyday consumer- but represents a massive opportunity for brands in the luxury leisure space. By 2028, spend on luxury leisure hospitality by the “High”, “Very High” and “Ultra High” Net Worth consumer demographics is projected to reach a staggering $284 billion. The aspiring luxury traveler will add an additional $107 billion in spend.
IHG is taking on this challenge with a captivating full motion creative placed on our Coachella Valley and Los Angeles private aviation digital advertising. With stunning beachside visuals and destination highlights, this campaign speaks directly to the wealthy luxury traveler- for whom ‘Sun and Beach vacations’ remain their most preferred trips as well as the 72% who place importance on visiting new destinations. Showcased in central, highly visible locations within private aviation terminals, IHG ensures their message gets seen by exactly the right audience.