Travel is one of the most expensive categories in paid search. You bid against the largest aggregators in the world, margins are thin, and one bad week of irrelevant queries can wipe out a month of profit. Travel is also where we have the deepest proof: five travel accounts across flights, call-centre bookings, hotels and multi-channel programs.
This guide covers what worked in each, with links to the full case studies.
Flight meta-search: query governance decides ROAS
FlightSearchDirect was spending $80K–$150K a month at a ROAS of 1.02. Rebuilding around route and booking intent, growing negatives from 200 to more than 1,800, and switching to value-over-cost bidding with CPA floors took ROAS to 2.08 and cut CPA 41%. Irrelevant-query spend fell 67% within 60 days.
For flight advertisers, structure by route and trip type (one-way, return, multi-city) and by intent (compare, cheap, book). Exclude informational searches such as flight status, baggage rules and check-in, which carry high volume and no booking intent.
New entrants: creative velocity beats history
FareScraper launched into a market of incumbents with years of Quality Score history. Structuring campaigns by origin and destination and scoring 40 creatives daily lifted CTR from 3.8% to 6.1% and cut CPA 34% in 90 days. The restructure alone improved Quality Score 28%.
New entrants should test creative at volume from day one, score every ad daily on CTR and CPA, and pause automatically. Relevance improves Quality Score, which lowers CPCs, which is how a challenger closes the gap on incumbents with bigger budgets.
Call-centre OTAs: optimise for the phone
A US travel agency closes bookings by phone, but its old campaigns optimised for web conversions. Rebuilding every campaign around calls, with cost-per-call limits and a negative framework that removed 40% of non-calling spend, tripled call volume at $6–$12 per call in 45 days.
Use call-only and call-extension ads, track calls over a minimum duration as the conversion, and schedule ads to match agent availability so you are not paying for calls nobody answers.
Go deeper:
- CRO for B2B Services Pages: Turning Visitors Into Bookings
- B2B Programmatic Case Study: 245% More Bookings in 90 Days
Hotels and hospitality: build the booking system first
A new Kashmir hospitality brand had almost no digital presence. Optimised listings across the major OTAs, Google visibility and a structured inquiry flow grew inquiries more than 300% in under three months and brought consistent off-season bookings.
For hotels, the booking system matters more than any single channel: complete OTA listings, a strong Google Business Profile, fast replies to inquiries and a steady stream of reviews. Paid media works much better once those are in place.
Beyond search: programmatic and affiliate
A travel and hospitality group relied too heavily on OTAs. DV360 programmatic plus an affiliate program built from scratch with 80 publishers grew bookings 245%, added $1.2M in affiliate revenue in six months and cut CAC 28%. Attribution showed programmatic drove 38% of affiliate clicks. See our programmatic and affiliate services.
Measure programmatic and affiliate together. When one travel group modelled cross-channel attribution, programmatic ads turned out to drive 38% of affiliate clicks, which changed how both channels were funded.
Checklist: what to fix first
- Campaigns structured by route, trip type and booking intent
- Informational travel queries excluded
- Creative scored daily with automatic pause rules
- Calls tracked as conversions with duration thresholds
- Ad schedule matched to agent availability
- OTA and Google listings complete and reviewed
- Programmatic and affiliate measured with shared attribution
Frequently asked questions
How do travel brands improve Google Ads ROAS?
Strict query governance and value-based bidding. At FlightSearchDirect, growing negatives from 200 to 1,800+ and bidding on booking value took ROAS from 1.02 to 2.08.
What conversion should a phone-based travel agency optimise for?
Qualified calls, tracked with call-specific conversions and cost-per-call limits. Optimising for web events sends budget to people who never call.
Should travel brands invest in affiliate and programmatic?
Yes, once search is efficient. For one travel group, programmatic plus affiliate grew bookings 245% and the two channels reinforced each other.