Skyscanner offers tourist boards free advertising slots

Skyscanner is offering tourist boards free advertising placements as part of a global advertising initiative. The flight search aggregator is hoping to encourage travellers back to the destinations that take it up on the offer as part of its efforts to support the travel industry’s recovery. So far, 20 tourist boards have signed up to … Continue reading Skyscanner offers tourist boards free advertising slots →

Skyscanner is offering tourist boards free advertising placements as part of a global advertising initiative.

The flight search aggregator is hoping to encourage travellers back to the destinations that take it up on the offer as part of its efforts to support the travel industry’s recovery.

So far, 20 tourist boards have signed up to Destination Connect initiative including Brand USA, Tourism Western Australia, Dubai Tourism and Visit Turkey.

A Skyscanner poll conducted between June 29 and July 5, the week when the UK government announced its ‘safe lists’ of travel destinations, found that 66% of respondents were optimistic about the possibility of going abroad later this year, and 56% were anxious at the thought of international travel.

Since then, the UK has removed its biggest outbound destination, Spain, from its lists and added some minor tourist destinations such as Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia.

Skyscanner said restoring confidence among travellers will be key for destination organisations to drive a safe and sustainable recovery.

James O’Leary, principle manager, destination marketing, said: “We are committed to supporting the travel industry’s recovery which is why we are partnering with tourist boards to give them high impact real estate on Skyscanner’s global platforms.

“Our research shows us that travellers are looking for information and reassurance, as they navigate a new a complex decision-making process. The Destination Connect initiative provides organisations with opportunities to increase the reach of these types of messages in order to stimulate demand and restore confidence. We believe this is the right thing to do during this time – there are no barriers to participation, and we welcome all tourist boards to join the initiative.”

Destination Connect gives tourist boards access to customisable branded inline placements giving them an opportunity to provide information that builds trust and peace of mind for travellers using Skyscanner.

Destination need to provide messaging and imagery and Skyscanner will implement all technical and analytical elements of the adverts. Anyone clicking on the call to action will be taken to the tourist board’s page of choice.

It follows Skyscanner’s recent launch of free access to its global flight search data as part of its Travel Insight offering to help organisations understand demand trends as the industry looks towards recovery.