We’re In The Era of Scroll, and Save Before You Travel

Be honest.

When was the last time you decided to travel somewhere because you searched for it online first?
Now think about the last place that genuinely made you want to go.

It probably wasn’t a search result. Chances are, it was a video that you came across from an Instagram reel, or a YouTube short or a TikTok video someone sent you or someone you follow posted. You may have seen an ad for a hotel that looked like an anniversary waiting to happen or a stretch of coastline that suddenly felt like someplace that could bring you peace.

By the time you opened a search engine, the decision was already forming.

That is a shift we’re all observing and participating in today. Search is only confirming an already created intent.

And in the UK, the numbers make that impossible to ignore. Today, 65% of travellers have booked a trip based on what they saw online, and about 55% say that short videos and images directly influence their travel decisions.

Discovery has moved from an awareness layer at the top of the funnel to the instance where demand is built.

The Journey Starts Before the Search

Travel marketing was operating on a predictable structure for a long time. The initiation was a traveller with an intent. That was followed by a search. And performance media captured that demand at the bottom of the funnel.

But today, intent is being shaped way before search begins.

On TikTok alone:

• Travel content views have grown 410% since 2021
• 50% of UK users search for travel content weekly
• 60% users have visited a destination they first saw on TikTok, and
• 18% users booked directly after seeing travel content there

That last metric is too significant to ignore.

If 18% of users book directly after exposure, it shows how compressed the journey has become. Inspiration and action now live in the same platform environment.

Instagram reinforces this pattern as well. Among travel-engaged audiences:

• 67% use Instagram to shortlist destinations
• 55% say images influenced their booking decision
• 53% say Reels directly influenced their travel choice

Reels or short form videos are so built for influence that by providing context, visual and audio stimulation, they influence or rather, induce action toward movement, and atmosphere. They answer the emotional question before the rational one of ‘Can I see myself there?’

If your media strategy activates only when someone searches, in 2026, you really are arriving after the emotional decision has already been made.

Why Staying Closer to Home Is Getting Bigger

In Indonesia, our work with Grab during Ramadan was also recognised.

At the same time, while discovery is reshaping behaviour, domestic travel is reshaping value.

In 2024, UK domestic tourists’ spend reached £87.7bn, which is nearly three times the value of inbound tourism. The staycation market in the UK is forecasted to grow at 6.1% CAGR through 2035.

You can hardly pass this off as a temporary surge. As we see it, and as the market sees it, we’re moving toward a structural change.

And sustainability is a major part of that evolution. Commitment to sustainable travel rose from 28% to 33% in just one year. But what’s more interesting is how that sustainability is expressed.*

Instead of sacrificing comfort, travellers are seeking indulgent domestic experiences such as premium hotels, exceptional food, and culture-rich breaks, without the carbon footprint of long-haul travel.

Domestic luxury is emerging as a conscious choice from a traditionally perceived fallback option. This helps destinations that understand this nuance reposition domestic travel as elevated rather than economical.

Why Motivation Is Outperforming Demographics

If discovery is emotional, targeting needs to be too. Demographics tell you who someone is. They don’t tell you why they’re travelling, what their motivations are. 

Research from Visit England shows that when travel is framed as participation, offering belonging, contribution, or pride, consideration increases. Host communities report 20% higher levels of pride, connection and empowerment when tourism feels purposeful.

That perception feeds back into traveller behaviour.

Take the “Indulgent Relaxer” mindset. This group:

• Is most likely to book a romantic short break next
• Values time with family and friends
• Prefers large, comfortable hotels
• Has a strong affinity for premium food and music
• Seeks shopping opportunities on short breaks

This is more encompassing than a mere age bracket. One can classify it as a motivation cluster.

When creative and targeting align on emotional outcomes such as reconnection, indulgence, and shared experience, performance improves because relevance increases. Clarity tends to lower acquisition costs.

The shift from demographics to motivation is already playing out in practice. In our work with Tourism Northern Ireland, we focused on an audience strategy that moved beyond fixed demographics to signals like what people are interested in, how they behave, and what’s happening in their lives at that moment.

The “Indulgent Relaxer” is a good example. An age group does not define it, but a mindset shaped by the intent of travellers seeking comfort, connection and high-quality short breaks. Structuring audiences this way made targeting more precise and, more importantly, made the creative easier to connect with.

“We stopped trying to define audiences on paper and started paying closer attention to how people are behaving, and what they’re looking for. So, with Tourism Northern Ireland, we built around intent rather than demographics, so media and creative felt more in sync with how travel decisions are being made.”

– Lavinea Morris, Managing Director, EMEA at M+C Saatchi Performance

AI Is Listening to Behaviour

AI is another force that is accelerating these changes in behavioural and targeting patterns. 

As planning fatigue grows, travellers increasingly delegate decisions to algorithms. They ask for recommendations instead of comparing 20 tabs.

AI is interpreting behavioural signals instead of operating like a search engine. It is analysing and interpreting what people linger on, save, share and revisit. It connects patterns across platforms.

If your destination isn’t generating consistent digital signals, it becomes invisible by default.

This is where Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) becomes critical. It’s about being recognisable to AI systems rather than simply optimising for keywords. 

And it requires:

• Visibility — consistent presence
• Validation — real engagement and sharing
• Clarity — a strong association with specific experiences

Trying to be everything weakens signal strength, but being clear about something strengthens it.

Paid media, in this environment, is training the ecosystem instead of working as a conversion lever. 

A Practical Framework for Turning Inspiration into Bookings

If discovery builds intent, media strategy must align with the traveller’s psychological state at each stage. We need to think in structured progression instead of campaigns or objectives in silos.

Here’s what that looks like:

Journey Stage	Performance Role	Optimise For	In Practice
Dream Trigger	Build demand	Video views, ThruPlay, 2s views, engagement quality	Use broad or interest-led targeting. Optimise for attention, not clicks. Run multiple short-form creatives simultaneously.
Consideration Loop	Shape preference	Engagement, landing page views, saves, time on site	Retarget video viewers and engagers. Boost proven organic creatives. Layer messaging from emotional storytelling to practical detail.
Validation Phase	Reduce friction	Search clicks, cost per landing page view, and assisted conversions	Align paid search with social messaging. Use Performance Max for active planners. Creatively reinforce reassurance.
Decision Moment	Nudge conversion	Clicks, cost per action, return visits	Use urgency selectively. Deploy UGC-style creative for trust. Keep formats simple and fast-loading.
Loop Back	Maximise lifetime value	Repeat engagement, social sharing signals	Maintain light retargeting. Encourage tagging and UGC to fuel the next cycle.

Instead of ending at the booking stage of the journey, engagement feeds the next traveller’s dream trigger, post-booking. Performance media compounds impact when structured correctly.

Being Chosen in the Age of Delegated Trust

We have already established that the transition from search to discovery is structural.

Travellers scroll before they search. They ask before they compare. And they rely on algorithms to simplify complexity. Destinations that are reaching people aren’t simply visible. They are so consistent, viral and realisable that one is bound to choose them. And digital is shaping this entire journey.

So, in a world where intent is formed upstream of search, the competitive advantage lies in building demand before it’s consciously expressed because by the time someone types your name into Google, the decision is already half-made!

*Sources: VisitBritain/ Great Britain Tourism Survey, 2024 UK House of Commons Library, Tourism: statistics and policy, Aug 2025, https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/united-kingdom-staycation-market.