Based on the Q1 U.S. Travel Association Consumer Quarterly Tracker conducted by Ipsos, 52% of American adults are eagerly planning to embark on leisure travel within the next six months. With the pandemic limiting travel opportunities for so long, people are more willing than ever to prioritize travel and make up for lost time. With the summer vacation season upon us, it’s crucial to identify consumers who are eager to travel and implement a targeted travel advertising strategy. To help you stand out in the competitive marketplace, we’ll share five audiences you should consider when building out your summer travel advertising activation plan.
What separates Experian’s syndicated audiences
- Experian’s 2,400+ syndicated audiences are available directly on over 30 leading television, social, programmatic advertising platforms, and directly within Audigent for activation within private marketplaces (PMPs).
- Reach consumers based on who they are, where they live, and their household makeup. Experian ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset for key demographic attributes.
- Access to unique audiences through Experian’s Partner Audiences available on Experian’s data marketplace, within Audigent for activation in PMPs and directly on platforms like DirectTV, Dish, Magnite, OpenAP, and The Trade Desk.
Five travel advertising audience categories
With so many travel audiences out there, it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones to target. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the top five audience categories you should focus on:
- Seasonal spenders
- Frequent travelers
- Travel transportation methods
- Luxury travelers
- Vacation type
Let’s break down each category so you can better understand the travel behaviors and preferences of each group.
Seasonal spenders
These travelers are known for their willingness to spend during peak travel seasons. They’re willing to spend more for travel experiences and have a high propensity to travel.
Let’s take a look at a few audience segments included in this category that you can activate as part of your summer travel advertising strategy.
- Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based > Travel > Vacation/Leisure Travelers: Summer Trips: Consumers in this segment are frequent, high spenders of summer travel.
- Mobile Location Models > Visits > Summer Break Travelers: Consumers in this segment are likely to travel during summer break.
Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based
With Experian’s Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based audiences, you can reach consumers who have a high propensity to buy in specific categories like toys, furniture, apparel, and more. This audience is created by combining known credit and debit transactions with advanced modeling to ensure the highest likelihood of future purchases.
You can use these audiences to find travelers interested in the outdoors that spend their money on related gear and activities, or travelers who use rental cars throughout their trip.
Mobile Location Models
Our Mobile Location Models are based on a statistical analysis of mobile location data from devices. The model is built from individual, household, and area-level Experian Marketing Data.
You can use these audiences to find travelers that like to visit theme parks, travel during the July 4th holiday, and travel during summer break.
Frequent travelers
Consumers in this audience category prioritize travel as a lifestyle choice and they’re always looking for their next adventure. They’re willing to spend money to make their travel dreams come true and often participate in loyalty programs to earn rewards.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target frequent travelers as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Travel > Frequent Flyer Program Member: Consumers in this segment are likely to be members of frequent flyer programs.
- Retail Shoppers > Purchase Based > Travel > Hotels > Frequent Spend: Consumers in this segment frequently spend at hotels like Holiday Inn, Hyatt, Marriott, and Wyndham.
Lifestyle and Interests
Experian’s Lifestyle and Interests audience segments make it easy to identify and target consumers based on their lifestyle characteristics. These audiences cover a wide array of lifestyle categories, such as:
- Activities/Interests
- Purchasing Behavior
- Contributors/Memberships
- Lifestyle/General
You can use these audiences to find travelers that enjoy boating, like to visit zoos, and are fishing enthusiasts.
Travel transportation methods
This audience category consists of the transportation methods travelers use to reach their destination or use throughout their travel experience.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target travelers based on their preferred mode of transportation as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Autos, Cars, and Trucks > Vehicle Lifestyle Ownership > Recreational Vehicle (RV) Travelers: Consumers in this segment are likely to currently own an RV and use it for travel.
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Travelers > Air Travel (FLA / Fair Lending Friendly): Consumers in this segment are interested in traveling by plane based on their internet activity in the last 90 days.
Luxury travelers
These high-end travelers seek exclusive, high-end experiences, from top-tier dining to luxurious accommodations.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target luxury travelers as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Consumer Financial Insights > Discretionary Spend – Travel > $10,000+: Consumers in this segment are likely to spend more than $10,000 for travel.
- Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based > Travel > Hotels: Luxury: Consumers in this segment are frequent, high spenders at high-end hotels like Renaissance Hotels, Westin, and Hilton Hotels.
Vacation type
Unlike the previous categories, our vacation type category focuses on the type of trip a traveler is planning and the destination they’re heading to. Whether it’s a beach getaway or an adventure-filled trip, segments within this category can help you target consumers looking for those particular experiences.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target travelers by vacation type as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based > Travel > National Park Travelers: Consumers in this segment are likely to travel to national parks.
- Travel Intent > Activities > Winery Distillery Brewery Tours: Consumers in this segment are likely to visit wineries, distilleries, and breweries while traveling.
Family size and structure
In addition to our five recommended summer travel advertising audience categories, it’s important to add audiences related to family size and structure to your targeting strategy for the summer travel season.
Families with children, for example, are a significant market for summer travel, as parents are looking to create memories with their kids before they go back to school. Families with children have distinct needs and preferences when it comes to travel. For instance, they may need larger accommodation options, kid-friendly activities, and safe environments.
On the other hand, married couples with no children or single travelers may have different preferences for their travel experiences. These groups may be looking for more adventurous or adult-oriented experiences, such as camping, hiking in national parks, or winery tours. By segmenting your audience based on family size and structure, you can provide more relevant and personalized recommendations to your target audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target travelers based on their family size and structure as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Demographics > Marital Status > Single: Consumers in this segment are likely to be single.
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Moms, Parents, Families > Married Mothers: Consumers in this segment are likely to be married females with at least one child under the age of 18 years old.
- Demographics > Presence of Children > Ages: 0-18: Consumers in this segment are likely to have children between the ages 0 to 18 years old in a household.
- Demographics > Presence of Children > Ages: 7-9: Consumers in this segment are likely to have children between the ages 7 to 9 years old in a household.
We can help you reach summer travelers
From seasonal spenders to luxury travelers, there are a host of audiences you should keep in mind as you build out your summer travel advertising strategy. Experian audiences can help you tap into the potential of your summer campaigns by enabling you to identify, reach, and engage with a variety of travelers in their preferred channels.
Need a custom audience? Reach out to our audience team and we can help you build and activate an Experian audience on the platform of your choice. Additionally, work with Experian’s network of data providers to build audiences and send to an Audigent PMP for activation.
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Pausing to assess what comes next. For a long time, growth has been measured almost entirely through media dollars. That mindset is understandable. Media is familiar, it's easy to quantify. It shows up clearly in negotiations and revenue reports. But viewing commerce media networks purely as media sales engines creates long-term risk. It can strain brand relationships, limit innovation, and distract from what commerce media networks actually do better than almost anyone else: understand consumers deeply. Signals are the real asset Commerce platforms sit close to decision-making. They see what people search for, what they consider, what they buy, and when those behaviors change. Those signals are incredibly powerful. And yet, most networks only activate them inside their own walled environments. That’s a missed opportunity. Curation represents the next area of growth for commerce media networks, and it doesn’t require replacing or diminishing existing media revenue. In fact, it complements it. No single commerce media network has all the data needed to give advertisers the scale and reach they're looking for. And no advertiser wants to recreate the same audience in dozens of disconnected platforms. That friction creates inefficiency and slows decision-making. Why collaboration supports sustainable growth The opportunity is to look beyond first-party data alone and start thinking about collaboration. Second-party data. Data partnerships. Signal sharing done responsibly and transparently. Imagine an advertiser defining an audience once and being able to understand and reach that audience across multiple commerce environments. Not through a series of disconnected buys, but through a more consistent approach built on shared understanding leading to increased reach and more impactful campaigns. That’s easier for advertisers to manage, and it creates an additional revenue stream for commerce media networks that complements media sales rather than competing with them. Curation strengthens media, it doesn't replace it Media will always play an important role. There is clear value in custom experiences tied directly to a commerce environment. Think buyouts, sponsored experiences, custom creative integrations. Those are situations where brands want to work closely with the network itself. But the signals commerce media networks hold don’t need to be limited to those moments. Those signals can be monetized independently through data products, co-ops, and partnerships that extend their value into other channels. That’s how curation adds value without undercutting existing revenue. A practical path forward for commerce media leaders For commerce media leaders thinking about their next phase of growth, the focus should be on sustainability. Building a massive media operation takes time and investment. Data-driven revenue streams can be introduced more quickly, require fewer internal resources, and provide steadier margins. It’s a practical approach. Use signal-based revenue to fund growth. Let that revenue support investment in tooling, talent, and media innovation over time. Bootstrapping, in the truest sense. Why transparency matters early There’s also a broader responsibility here. In many advertising channels, transparency followed growth, often after pressure from the market. Commerce media networks have an opportunity to do this differently. To lead with transparency from the start. To be clear with brands and consumers about how data is used, how signals are created, and how value flows through the ecosystem. Because the reality is this: commerce media networks are holding some of the most valuable intent signals in the market today. But those signals don’t retain their value in isolation. 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