Travel Advertisers Inspire Vacations Along the Everyday Commute

August 6, 2024

To reach potential travelers, what better way than bright, bold, visuals canvases that explore far-off destinations during the everyday commute? When commuters encounter out of home advertising for places that "take them away", it sparks travel inspiration, motivating them to explore and make bookings.

People spend 70% of their time outside of their home, making OOH a key channel for engaging with consumers in real-world settings. Its physical presence creates a unique opportunity for advertisers to connect with their target audience, whether with traditional billboards, digital out of home, or transit media. 

Tourism-focused campaigns use urban space to highlight worldwide attractions and hidden gems, capturing the attention of both locals and visitors. Integrated into cities at their most bustling, these campaigns create a compelling visual presence that drives interest and exploration. 

Standing out and compellingly reaching audiences can be a challenge when it comes to tourism campaigns. The travel category is highly competitive, as destinations vie for attention and bookings, so campaigns must be unique and memorable to resonate with potential travelers.  


Travel advertisers employ numerous strategies to address the challenge of standing. Strategic placement of billboards, transit ads, and digital screens can significantly increase visibility and create memorable moments. Incorporating QR codes can also enhance engagement through hands-on interactivity, serving as a gateway to exclusive content, special offers, or additional information. Creative and eye-catching visuals are crucial; striking imagery, bold colors, and unorthodox designs can make a campaign more memorable and appealing. 

One notable recent example was the Bermuda Tourism Authority's "Lost Yet Found" campaign, which aimed to showcase Bermuda's natural wonders and rich culture to attract visitors through a multi-layered OOH experience.


First, to draw the attention of New Yorkers, the BTA strategically positioned media in high-traffic locations like Times Square and Penn Station, showcasing mind-blowing 3D visuals (courtesy of our XScape dimensional OOH tech) as well as full-motion video. Then, to convert intrigue to action, QR codes and "text to plan" feature nudged consumers down the conversion funnel. The campaign led to great success with 28 million+ impressions, a 13% increase in website traffic, and a 14% increase in new user website visitation (SOURCE: Bermuda Tourism Authority).  

Jamari Douglas, the authority's VP Marketing, PR & Communications, spoke to the funnel effect: "Wherever you go, it started with out of home and continued throughout whatever digital channel the user chose."

Visit Orlando took a different approach. Its wintertime campaign used our XPress dynamic creative capability to tell billboard viewers in cold-weather cities how warm it was there.


Williamsburg Tourism ran a campaign with the goal of increasing visitation and building awareness from its feeder markets, nearby drivable cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. It strategically chose markets that are short enough trips that people can get out of the busy city and to Williamsburg for the weekend. 


The campaign highlighted the attractions of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown with a tagline promising “Life at Your Pace.” Creative showcased the destination beyond its well-known historical landmarks, highlighting golf, outdoor activities, walkable town centers, shopping, dining, aquaculture, and more.  The colorful creative featuring these activities tallied 260 million+ total impressions, a 46% increase in overall website traffic, and a 192% year-over-year increase in website traffic from NYC (SOURCE: Williamsburg Tourism).

The creative potential of OOH is endless, and paradigms are meant to be broken, whether through 3D creative, dynamic data, or whatever else we can dream up. Contact us now to explore your brand’s out of home potential!

Author: Grace Cadman, Marketing Intern @ OUTFRONT

Links to third-party content are not endorsed by OUTFRONT Media.