Travel brands struggle with ineffective email marketing, with a recent survey revealing what subscribers truly want. Key findings highlight the importance of pricing, device usage, and the need for tailored content based on customer preferences and planning habits. To enhance effectiveness, brands should focus on optimizing email strategies, utilize responsive design, and consider the frequency of their communications.

1. Travel brands should know about
their email subscribers
10 THINGS

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Travel Emails Are Failing
For many travel brands, email marketing
is a vital part of their marketing mix.
Yet, travel brands’ emails are among the
least effective when compared
with other industries, according
to IBM Marketing Cloud research.

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Many travel brands have email
marketing strategies that travelers
aren’t connecting with and aren’t
working for the companies.
Dan Peltier
SKIFT
“ ”

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Our Research
So what are subscribers really looking for
when signing up for travel emails?
In order to answer that question, Litmus
surveyed over 600 Americans that have
booked travel within the last year and
currently receive regular email from travel
brands.
Here are our top 10 findings—and hands-
on advice for how travel brands can
translate customer expectations into their
email strategy.

5. #1
The desire for
better pricing is the
most popular
motivator to sign
up for travel emails.
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To find out about
deals and promotions
To get loyalty offers
To get inspiration
for new travel ideas
To get educational
content or travel tips
To get partner offers
0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
For which of the following reasons do you
subscribe to receive email from travel brands?
(Select all that apply.)

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Place a prominent option to subscribe
to your emails wherever you promote
your deals and discounts. This can be
on your website as well as on your
social media channels.
TIP

8. 45% of consumers
read emails from travel
brands on their
smartphones.
#2
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Desktop or Laptop Smartphone Tablet
74% 45% 12%
What device(s) do you typically use to open
emails from travel brands?
(Select all that apply.)

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Use responsive or hybrid design to
make sure your emails look great,
regardless of whether they’re opened
on big screens or mobile devices.
TIP

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Does your email look great on mobile devices?
Preview your email on 70+ clients and devices with Litmus Email Previews.
Preview your email

12. #3
Travel planning starts
84 days in advance,
on average.
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0 %
10 %
20 %
30 %
40 %
50 %
Up to
2 weeks
2-4
weeks
1-3
months
3-6
months
> 6
months
Typically, how far in advance do you begin
planning personal travel such as a vacation?

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Even though there are
spontaneous travelers and
long-term planners, the
majority of travelers plan
their trips between 30 and
180 days in advance.
Consider these lead times,
especially when sending
seasonal travel campaigns.
TIP

15. #4
One third of
consumers say
travel booking is a
team decision.
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35 %
8 %
57 %
Me
My spouse or significant other
My spouse/significant other
and I decide together
For personal travel, who typically makes the
final purchase decision in your household?
My spouse/significant other
and I decide together

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Make your emails
easily shareable,
so recipients can
share with their
partners or friends,
for example by
including social
sharing links.
TIP

18. #5
40% of travelers say
weather plays a role
when deciding where
to travel.
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Average
Subscribers from
cold weather states
0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 %
% of travelers that say weather plays a role
when booking travel.

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Consider using dynamic content to pull
in personalized weather information—
either based on the subscriber’s location
or the travel destination.
TIP

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Where are your
subscribers
located?
Get to know your audience
and dive into detailed
geolocation data with Litmus
Email Analytics.
Get started →

22. #6
When looking for the
perfect hotel, travelers
say price and reviews
matter most.
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Price
Reviews
Available
destinations
Available
dates
Loyalty
programs
0 % 15 % 30 % 45 % 60 % 75 % 90 %
When booking a hotel, what factors are most
important to you?
(Select all that apply.)

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Don't neglect reviews
and social proof when
sending hotel
promotions. In addition
to ratings and reviews
from popular travel
forums, consider
embedding social media
posts from happy
customers.
TIP

25. #7
For romantic
getaways, the
destination
matters most.
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Available
destinations
Price
Reviews
Available
dates
Loyalty
programs
0 % 13 % 27 % 40 % 53 % 67 % 80 %
When booking a romantic getaway, what
factors are most important to you?
(Select all that apply.)

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Use progressive profiling to learn about
your subscribers’ travel motivations,
then adapt your email program to match
the key motivators that drive purchase
decisions for this type of travel.
TIP

28. #8
For business
travelers, pricing is
less important.
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Price
Reviews
Available
destinations
Available
dates
Loyalty
programs
0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 %
When booking a business trip, what factors are
most important to you?
(Select all that apply.)

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If your brand serves
business travelers, you
may want to emphasize
travel times, perks, loyalty
rewards, and other factors
that business travelers
may value more.
TIP

31. #9
Many subscribers say
they receive email
from travel brands too
frequently.
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House rental
32%
Car rental
31%
Cruises
29%
Travel Aggregators
26%
Hotels
22%
Airlines
21%
% of subscribers who report they receive email from
travel brands too frequently, by travel brand type.

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Experiment with fewer, but
more targeted messages to
see if campaign performance
and engagement surpasses
that of generic high-
frequency sends. Plus, use
email preference centers
where users can easily
change the frequency of
emails they receive.
TIP

34. #10
36% of travelers say
an email has lead to an
immediate purchase
that wasn’t planned.
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64 %
36 %
I agree
I disagree
An email from a travel company has led me to make
an immediate travel purchase I wasn’t planning.

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Optimize the entire customer
journey—from subject line
and calls-to-action in your
emails to landing pages and
booking processes on your
website—to guarantee a
seamless booking
experience for prospects
coming in via email.
TIP

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