Learn from 4 travel brands that are making waves on TikTok

TikTok is fast becoming the new frontier for both spontaneous discovery and intentional planning, with millions of people increasingly using the platform to look for travel inspiration, find the next cult holiday destination and share recommendations, resulting in a real-world impact on local tourism and travel brands. Whether it's through authentic reviews, educational content or FOMO-inducing videos, with hashtags like #TikTokMadeMeBookIt, our audience is never too far from the booking button: 71% of our European users say they're likely to book a holiday based on recommendations they've seen on our platform [1].

TikTok's vast audience of travellers and their hunger for creative content means that there's a big opportunity for brands to be at the epicentre of culture and be discovered by our thriving community. In fact, our community of TikTok travellers say that ads are the number one way they find out about new brands and products [2].

Travel brands that have leaned into TikTok's ethos of joyful creativity and entertainment are becoming more adventurous with their campaigns and are achieving incredible results. If you want to use TikTok to take your brand to new heights, take inspiration from these brands who have leveraged the platform and seen game-changing results across the funnel.

Driving 85k app downloads for LuckyTrip

Trip booking app LuckyTrip wanted to boost brand awareness and increase app downloads and conversions, so they ran a creative-first campaign on TikTok. Using a test-and-learn approach, the brand tested different styles of creative to find out what was most effective. Alongside this, selected creators were also sent off on actual trips designed to showcase the app's functionality and ease of use. The brand boosted their creators' organic posts as Spark Ads, thus supercharging reach.

In just three weeks, the brand racked up over 85k app downloads, a 1,600% increase in followers and 4m impressions.

Marketer takeaway: The most successful content on TikTok is created specifically for the platform, so an always-on test-and-learn approach that utilises organic content and paid ads will pay dividends. Check out our creative codebook for tips on creating for the platform or work with creative production experts using the TikTok Creative Exchange (TTCX), our one-stop solution that enables fast, scalable high-performing video production for TikTok.

Brand building with Booking.com

Booking.com launched on TikTok with a seven-day competition encouraging people to book their next trip on the platform. Using a clever play on the hugely viral #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend (where people share their favourite TikTok-inspired purchases), Booking.com launched #TikTokMadeMeBookIt. This invited the TikTok community to tag a travel partner with the campaign hashtag for the chance to win a fully paid vacation on Booking.com... with a catch. The catch was the winners had to leave within 48 hours. The brand also enlisted several popular TikTok creators including @joe_sugg and @anastasiakingsnorth to showcase their trips and take the campaign to a wider audience.

Booking.com's account has already seen steep growth, with nearly 1.1m followers. Following the initial campaign, Booking.com has continued to post creative and witty content that feels inherently TikTok, including jumping on the popular #ASMR trend with some relaxing travel inspo.

Marketer takeaway: Trends are the lifeblood of the platform and the easiest way to relate to audiences. Try exploring our Creative Centre where you can utilise our keyword insight tool and review top ads or videos to gain inspiration and understand what resonates in the travel community.

Boosting holiday bookings for TUI

TUI wanted to show up on TikTok with practical yet inspirational content focused on budget travel hacks amidst the cost-of-living squeeze. To drive brand awareness and consideration, the brand partnered with ten unique creators, including @budgetingmumofficial and @thetravelbae, to create money-saving videos that were boosted as In-Feed Auction ads to ensure their messaging hit their core audience.

Across the ad flight, more than 4.2 million video views were recorded, at an average view-through rate of 7.84%. A strong click-through rate then sent thousands of potential holidaymakers to TUI’s website.

Marketer takeaway: Working with creators is a shortcut to connecting with ready-made audiences with creative styles that have been tried and tested. You can leverage the TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM) to find the right creators for your brand and generate creative that really resonates.

Fuelling performance for Parc Astérix

Parc Astérix, the second biggest amusement park in France, came to TikTok for an exciting Halloween campaign to generate brand new leads for their newsletter. Using TikTok Ads Manager, Parc Astérix set up a Lead Generation Ad. The creative showcased the excitement and adventure that could be had at Parc Astérix during the spooky Halloween season. The ad then included a call-to-action inviting the TikTok community to fill in their information to opt-in for the Parc Astérix newsletter while also entering a competition to win free tickets to the park.

The campaign was a huge success achieving over 2,600 brand new, high-quality leads for Parc Astérix. The brand saw a 31% conversion rate and a smashing 71% reduction in cost-per-lead, all maintained within budget thanks to the effective control of TikTok Ads Manager.

Marketer takeaway: On TikTok, engagement goes beyond likes and shares: 57% of TikTok users are likely to purchase from an advertised business after viewing a lead generation ad [3]. Our Lead Generation solution is equipped to effectively earn the most qualified customers for your business with flexibility in mind.

Get the green flight

Content on TikTok doesn't just drive interest, it drives actions, taking users to places they've never seen or been to before. To maximise impact on the platform, prioritise creativity and entertainment for both performance and brand objectives. Learn more about the travel opportunity and how you can leverage it in this blog post.

To get insights like these straight to your inbox, sign up for our dedicated travel newsletter.