Artificial intelligence is silently reshaping the entire tourism marketing economy. Programmatic advertising, behavioral targeting, campaign personalization, traveler signal analysis… behind the booking interfaces used daily by millions of travelers, a profound technological transformation is already underway.
During a roundtable discussion on AI and the future of travel advertising, Jennifer Andre, Global Vice President of Expedia Group Advertising, offered a particularly concrete vision of this transformation. And one thing became clear: in tourism, the battle is no longer fought solely on the volume of travelers, but now on their value and their true intent.
Summary
Why AI is already revolutionizing tourism advertising
For several years, travel industry players have been accumulating considerable volumes of data on traveler behavior. But with the rise of generative artificial intelligence and new recommendation engines, this data is now becoming much more usable on a large scale.
Jennifer Andre sums up this evolution simply:
"AI has already played an extremely important role in this evolution."
At Expedia Group, AI is now used at several levels:
- optimization of advertising campaigns;
- analysis of traveler behavior;
- selection of the most effective advertising visuals;
- assistance in optimizing advertising investments;
- audience segmentation;
- message personalization;
- Analysis of market and traveler signals.
And according to Jennifer Andre, this evolution goes far beyond a simple gain in productivity.
"Today, it seems extremely exciting. We all feel that there are enormous opportunities to evolve even further."
Expedia wants to reduce friction in tourism advertising
One of the most interesting parts of this discussion concerns how Expedia envisions the future of tourism marketing.
For Jennifer Andre, the goal is clear: to simplify the creation and optimization of campaigns as much as possible through AI.
"We are gradually moving towards a system where, from an advertising perspective, everything could almost function like a single, very simple button to activate."
In practical terms, Expedia's AI tools are now capable of:
- to identify the most effective advertising creations;
- to help advertisers adjust their budgets according to their objectives;
- to adapt campaigns according to the markets;
- to analyze the behavioural signals of travellers;
- to simplify certain media operations.
Jennifer Andre also explains that AI is already involved in the preparation of business proposals:
"We already use AI to prepare our business proposals, analyze data, and execute certain advertising campaigns."
For tourism professionals, this confirms a fundamental trend: AI is gradually becoming a major operational tool in travel marketing.
The real issue: understanding the true intentions of travelers
What is changing profoundly today is not just technological power. It is above all the ability to contextualize traveler behavior in real time.
Jennifer Andre particularly emphasized this point during the round table discussion.
"These are real travelers making real decisions in real time. We analyze their behavior at the very moment they are conducting their searches."
In other words, Expedia is no longer content with simply analyzing static traveler profiles. The platform is now seeking to better understand:
- the context of the trip;
- the motivations of the moment;
- buy signals;
- search behaviors;
- changes in intention;
- the potential economic value of the traveler.
Jennifer Andre gives a particularly concrete example:
"I can go to a concert with my child and, for that specific trip, become a completely different type of traveler."
It is precisely this contextual reading that is becoming strategic for tourist destinations and brands today.
Why destinations now want "quality" travelers
For a long time, tourism marketing has primarily sought to maximize visitor volumes.
But according to Expedia Group, the logic is changing rapidly.
Destinations are now primarily seeking to attract travelers capable of generating greater economic value: customers who spend more, stay longer, are more geographically dispersed, and contribute more significantly to the local economy. The focus is gradually shifting from a volume-based strategy to a quality-based visitor strategy.
Jennifer explains it clearly:
"From now on, it's no longer just about quantity, but above all about the quality of the travelers welcomed."
Thanks to behavioral data and traveler signals analyzed in real time, Expedia claims to be able to help destinations better identify the best performing markets, high-value travelers, the most dynamic segments, and certain opportunities for redistribution of tourist flows.
Expedia Group Advertising's global vice president cites Morocco as a prime example:
"We recently conducted a campaign for Morocco where we increased the number of travelers by 11%, while further increasing overnight stays and bookings."
In other words: some markets can generate more economic value without necessarily focusing solely on volume growth.
Data is becoming a strategic lever for destinations
Another key point of this intervention concerns the power of the data held by Expedia Group.
The American leader revealed, among other things:
"I believe we currently have approximately 200 petabytes of data."
With billions of data points analyzed, Expedia can now detect:
- market recovery signals;
- new travel intentions;
- behavioral changes;
- opportunities for tourism recovery;
- the markets are starting to become active again.
She specifically mentions the role played in Las Vegas after the pandemic:
We provided them with data so they could begin to identify the first signs of recovery.
According to the Expedia Group executive, these signals now allow destinations to make marketing decisions faster than before.
Why the “full funnel” is becoming essential in tourism
One of the most frequent mistakes made by tourism advertisers still concerns their obsession with immediate conversion.
Jennifer Andre believes that many brands focus solely on locations closest to the reservation.
"The biggest mistake is probably focusing solely on advertising placements closest to the final booking."
For Expedia, the traveler journey begins well before the final booking. Inspiration now arises through social media, video content, destination research, comparison phases, and all the trip planning prior to purchase.
In this logic, Expedia is progressively strengthening its social partnerships, its collaborations with platforms like Pinterest, its CTV devices as well as its omnichannel activations in order to develop “full funnel” advertising strategies capable of accompanying the traveler throughout their journey.
Jennifer Andre perfectly summarizes this evolution:
Social media and entertainment have become major drivers of travel inspiration.
The future of tourism marketing will be driven by data
What stands out from Jennifer Andre's speech is above all the spectacular acceleration of data-driven marketing in tourism.
Platforms like Expedia are no longer just selling travel. They are gradually becoming platforms capable of analyzing traveler behavior in real time to help destinations and advertisers better target their campaigns.
And in this new battle, destinations that can intelligently leverage data, AI, and personalization will likely have a considerable advantage.
In short
- AI is rapidly transforming tourism marketing.
- Expedia already uses AI to optimize advertising campaigns and creatives.
- Behavioral data is becoming strategic.
- Real-time targeting is becoming increasingly important.
- Destinations are increasingly seeking high-value travelers.
- The “full funnel” is becoming central to travel strategies.
- Social media and video strongly influence travel inspiration.
- AI is gradually reducing some manual tasks in tourism marketing.
InfosTourisme.com Partners
This Explore 2026 cover is produced with the support of our partners.
