{"id":17381,"date":"2026-10-06T15:27:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bto.travel\/a-guide-to-tourism-advertising-an-interview-with-paolo-ratto\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T15:33:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T13:33:06","slug":"a-guide-to-tourism-advertising-an-interview-with-paolo-ratto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bto.travel\/en\/a-guide-to-tourism-advertising-an-interview-with-paolo-ratto\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to Tourism Advertising: An Interview with Paolo Ratto"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In this interview,<\/em> Paolo Ratto<\/em><\/strong> It analyzes the evolution of advertising in the tourism industry, moving beyond the myth of the linear customer journey and the obsession with the last click. The article focuses on how to build brand awareness before the search phase, the role of new touchpoints involving AI and Connected TV, and introduces the Travel Compass: a strategic compass to help destinations and hospitality businesses define the right media mix without wasting their budget. <\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n

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1. What is the most significant change in the way travelers discover and choose a trip today?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The decision is always made before the person begins their search\u2014and increasingly, elsewhere. OTAs have surpassed search engines as the first step in the search process (26% vs. 21%, SiteMinder). Word-of-mouth as a starting point has doubled. In the United States, 56% of travelers have already used an AI assistant to plan or book, compared to 43% at the end of 2025 (Phocuswright). <\/p>\n\n

The statistic that strikes me the most, however, concerns the sequence. According to a 2023 study by Expedia Group, nearly three out of five travelers set out without a specific destination in mind, or compare more than one option. First, they decide where to go, based on climate, type of vacation, and cost. Accommodation-related needs, such as reviews or flexible cancellation policies, come later, once the options have already been narrowed down. <\/p>\n\n

For those in the tourism advertising industry, the implications are very real. A crucial part of the game is played when the person isn\u2019t even looking for you yet, and what matters is how much you\u2019re already on their mind. <\/p>\n\n

2. OTAs, word of mouth, social media, and AI assistants: Does it still make sense to think of the customer journey as a linear path?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The linear path works well for slides, but much less so when it comes to describing how people choose a vacation. Google calls it the \u201cMessy Middle,\u201d and travel is among the categories with the most touchpoints of all. According to an Expedia study, an average of 71 days elapses between inspiration and booking. In between, there are social media, word of mouth, blogs, reviews, destination websites, and OTAs\u2014in a different order for each person. <\/p>\n\n

AI assistants add another layer to the experience, with an interesting feature. A language model doesn\u2019t \u201csee\u201d your reputation; it sees the traces you leave on the web: consistent data, consistent content, and a narrative about your community that remains stable over time. The discipline that builds memory in people also makes you discoverable by machines. <\/p>\n\n

That\u2019s why I prefer to think in terms of presence: where I need to be, in what role, before and during the decision-making process. The path varies from person to person. The consistency with which you make yourself available can remain the same. <\/p>\n\n

3. What is the prevailing belief about advertising in the tourism industry that today risks causing the most budget to be wasted?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

All it takes is being there when the customer is searching. This belief leads to focusing everything on the last click: metasearch, keywords, retargeting. Binet and Field call this the \u201conline fallacy\u201d: since bookings are made online, people assume that advertising must be online and action-oriented. <\/p>\n\n

Travel data shows just how much this choice costs. According to Google\u2019s \u201cDecoding Decisions\u201d study, price and discounts account for 39% of the decision-making process for flights and 35% for hotels, compared to an average of 30% in other categories. I see this more as a symptom than as the inevitable fate of the industry: where brand recall is weak, price remains the deciding factor. In the same study, brand loyalty for hotels stands at 52%, while loyalty to the booking channel plummets to 9%. <\/p>\n\n

Those who invest solely to capture traffic are competing in a space where no one is loyal. That\u2019s where bids get the highest: in high-demand markets, Google Hotel Ads\u2019 CPCs rise by 18\u201325% per year. Capturing traffic is important. The problem arises when it becomes the only thing you do. <\/p>\n\n

4. If online and offline are converging, what metrics should destinations and operators actually look at to determine whether a campaign is working?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

First, a word of caution: no single model, on its own, tells the whole story. Platform attribution remains a useful operational metric, but by design, it favors the channels closest to existing demand. I work by triangulation, on four levels: <\/p>\n\n