Skift Take

Today’s podcast looks at Skift Research’s latest mega-report on the state of travel, the marketing battles of Expedia and Booking Holdings, and new goals for Nashville.

Rashaad Jorden

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, August 16, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

The Skift Research team on Thursday unveiled its State of Travel 2024 report, a 400-page document with over 350 slides on industry performance and consumer and business trends in travel.

The State of Travel 2024 is strong, reports head of research Seth Borko. Travel businesses are growing with healthy margins. The report contains information on, among other topics, the state of international travel after the pandemic. It contains detailed tourism figures for each major global region. In addition, the report examines some short-term issues, such as the likelihood of moderate growth in 2024 and beyond.   

Next, Booking Holdings and Expedia spent an enormous amount on marketing last year — nearly $13 billion combined. But there are key differences in how they spend, writes Senior Research Analyst Pranavi Agarwal. 

As a share of expenses, Agarwal notes Expedia spent more on marketing last year than it did in 2019 while Booking spent less. Expedia also needed to spend more than Booking to drive bookings. Expedia spent nearly 6% of its gross bookings on marketing in 2023 while Booking spent 4.5%. 

Skift Research’s analysis shows Booking has a higher return on ad spend from Google’s sponsored listings than Expedia in every region.  

Finally, Nashville has long been known as a popular destination for country music fans. But tourism officials in Tennessee’s capital are looking to branch out and attract mega events, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam. 

Deana Ivey, CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., said it is a key objective for the city. Nashville has its sights set on hosting the Super Bowl and Wrestle Mania, among other events. The city has already hosted the NASCAR Ally 400.   

Ivey said another priority is attracting more international visitors. She acknowledged Nashville needs nonstop flights from its largest overseas markets to help boost visitor numbers.