Online travel giants set new record for marketing spend in ’23 by Mitra Sorrells 14/03/2024
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Financial figures from Expedia Group, Booking Holdings, Airbnb and Trip.com Group – four of the largest online travel agencies in the world – show the companies spent a record amount of money to promote their brands and attract customers in 2023, as pent-up demand from the pandemic is still driving spending.
Collectively these four brands spent a staggering $16.8 billion on sales and marketing last year (reported by Booking Holdings as just marketing), up 20% from just more than $14 billion in 2022.
It’s a clear sign of the intense competition these companies are facing as they fight to capture bookings and as they compete both with one another and with suppliers such as hotels and airlines that are all vying to drive direct business.
But beyond the eye-popping figure of total spend, Trip.com Group stands out as the company that had the biggest jump in its marketing budget in 2023. After dramatically reducing its spending in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to persistent COVID-induced travel restrictions in China, last year as restrictions came down the online travel company returned to pre-pandemic levels of marketing spending. In 2023 Trip.com Group allocated $1.3 billion to sales and marketing – an increase of $117% over the 2022 figure of just more than $600 million and on par with its spending in 2019.
But as a percentage of revenue, Trip.com Group is showing increased efficiency in its marketing. The spending was 26% of revenue in 2019, 21% in 2022 and down to 20% in 2023.
In a call with analysts to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial results, Trip.com Group CEO Jane Sun said the company is using its marketing budget to enhance its global market presence and also to expand its user base among “elderly demographics” – in the fourth quarter the number of users over age 50 increased by more than 90% compared with 2019.
“And this is just a beginning to capitalize on the market opportunity for the retired community, which has spending power and ample time,” she said. The company also said it will continue to optimize its marketing spend by focusing on increasing its direct traffic and improving cross-selling within its platform.
Airbnb focuses on “education”
Airbnb has always touted the fact that the majority of its traffic – 90% is the latest figure – is direct or unpaid and that it spends a relatively small percentage of its revenue on advertising. In 2023 that figure was just over 18%, with spending of $1.8 billion on revenue of $9.9 billion.
In a call with analysts to discuss the latest results, co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky reiterated the company’s “full funnel approach.”
“As you know, we have a very different approach to marketing than our competitors,” he said. “We’re not really typically trying to buy customers through performance marketing. We generally … think of advertising more as education than sales.”
Chesky also called out the company’s success at “tapping into the biggest moments in pop culture,” such as partnering with Mattel to turn a Malibu mansion into the “Malibu Barbie DreamHouse” listing on Airbnb.
“That became a phenomenon on social media, and it got more press, more articles than our IPO. In fact, three times as many articles were written about the Barbie Malibu DreamHouse as Airbnb’s IPO, just to give you a sense,” Chesky said.
Airbnb is also using targeted efforts in key markets. Dave Stephenson, the company’s new chief business officer who was still the chief financial officer at the time of the earnings call in February, said during the analysts’ call that in some countries Airbnb is using a “small team [to] do very targeted social marketing, PR, communications, use influencers, search engine marketing that can build on top of brand marketing.”
Stephenson said this year there may be some incremental costs as the company expands to new countries and adds new business area, but he expects marketing costs as a percentage of revenue to remain roughly the same as it was in 2023.
If you are interested in presenting, either in person or online, but not yet ready to send an abstract or register for the conference, please help our planning process by sending an Expression of Interest soon and letting us know what topic you would like to talk about (or display a poster on) A detailed report will be published on this website after the conference, as was done for our 2022 event
From Merriam-Webster Thesaurus: “to make plain or understandable.” They elaborate that “Some common synonyms of interpret are elucidate, explain, explicate, and expound. While all these words mean “to make something clear or understandable,” interpret adds to explain the need for imagination or sympathy or special knowledge in dealing with something.
Nature Interpretation
A traveller arrives at a new destination. Before him is a stretch of woodland with many inhabitants: small furry creatures with a bizarre love-life, feathered ones with amazing architecture skills, plants with intriguing ways for attracting pollinators, and some are tiny but beautiful insects.
The geological history that made it all possible is quite a story in itself. But the traveller sees only a stretch of smallish trees with some hills in the background, takes a few photos, and leaves without ever knowing what was there.
I used to visit Glacier Rock TeaHouse south of Adelaide. An ancient glacier (yes, Australia did once have glaciers) had lifted a huge granite boulder while passing through Visitor Harbour and dumped it there in soft sediments.
Visitors can now see it easily in the creek bank, all these 500 million years later, as well as scratch marks on nearby rocks from the glacier slowly moving over them.
But most visitors called in, had a cup of tea/coffee and snack and left again without any idea of what was sitting there beneath them. That always seemed a shame.
I’ve been on wildlife tours in various countries where animals have been pointed out and named, everyone gets a photo and we move on without any new insights into the behaviour or ecology or conservation needs of the animals we’ve just seen.
I’ve been on other tours with excellent guides, where I came to know and understand a lot more about all the species we encountered and how they fit into the ecosystem.
Tourists vary hugely in their desire to learn. Some ask questions about almost everything, while others just want a few photos to show friends. But there are ways of making things interesting even for those who don’t initially feel the need to learn.
Why should we want tourists to learn about wildlife?
We (as guides or ecolodge managers or zoo-keepers) are ourselves entranced by the wildlife we’re showing people, and enjoy sharing our enthusiasm
If people understand more about the animals they may better understand why they should behave in certain ways to avoid disturbing them, and also support conservation efforts of others
black flying fox: Araucaria Ecotours
If we can “hook” visitors with interesting stories and information about the animals it can enhance their satisfaction with the whole tourism experience and more likely return or recommend to friends
It may open up whole new words for the traveller, who will start to see how fascinating nature can be, and develop a whole new hobby while traveling and even after returning home
It can add to the knowledge of amateur naturalists, ecology students, biology lecturers, nature journalists and others – and suggest to them further possibilities for research, writing and other wildlife-based activities.
Topics for this conference:
How do we best design interpretive experiences for a variety of visitors – different age groups, levels of interest or prior knowledge, different levels of understanding of the language spoken by the guide, different cultural backgrounds etc.?
How can we awaken interest in the “forgotten fauna”: reptiles, insects, rat-like mammals, small brown birds etc. with interesting behaviours or important ecological roles?
What are the best ways to use story-telling to capture interest and also impart some important or fascinating information?
How can we best guide our visitors’ behaviour for minimal-impact viewing?
Different methods of interpretation: face-to-face guiding, self guided nature trails, interpretive signage in zoos or wilderness areas, apps, websites, virtual reality etc
What to avoid when giving out information (e.g. don’t make things easy for poachers) or opinions (e.g. clarify the difference between fact and opinion, examine your own possible biases).
Anything else of relevance to interpreting wildlife and their habits to visitors.
This conference will be of interest to wildlife and general tour guides, LGA parks and gardens managers, national parks and reserves managers, ecotourism operators, wildlife park operators, wildlife refuges with public facing
The Tweed Tourism Company takes out GOLD at national awards
An image from The Tweed Tourism Company’s A Slow Road to Tyalgum drive campaign, developed following the Covid-19 and 2022 flood. The campaign was part of a collective body of work that earned the company the coveted GOLD award for best Tourism & Marketing campaign at the prestigious Australian Tourism Awards held in Darwin on 15 March 2024.
The Tweed region is celebrating a GOLD win, a Silver award and finalist recognition at the Australian Tourism Awards, held in Darwin on Friday 15 March:
GOLD: The Tweed Tourism Company – Tourism Marketing & Campaigns
The Tweed Tourism Company has taken out the highly coveted GOLD for tourism marketing and campaigns at the prestigious Australian Tourism Awards held in Darwin on Friday 15 March.
Presented by Tourism Australia, the GOLD winning Tweed campaign was awarded as Australia’s best tourism marketing for 2023 amongst an impressive national field and ahead of Rockhampton, Queensland (Silver) and Mandurah, Western Australia (Bronze).
The Australian Tourism Awards are the tourism industry’s peak national awards and this year saw over 180 leading tourism operators vying for top honours across 26 categories, with more than 1,000 people in attendance from across Australia.
The winning Tweed campaign was a collective body of work aligned with a Covid recovery strategy that included promotion of the new Northern Rivers Rail Trail, a Slow Road to Tyalgum drive campaign, hosting of the Australian Society of Travel Writer’s Convention and Australia’s first Wellness Tourism Summit.
The recovery strategy aligned with Tourism Australia’s THRIVE 2030, which aims to achieve pre-COVID levels of domestic visitation by the end of 2024, and incorporated a cooperative campaign in partnership with Destination NSW under its Feel New brand.
Also celebrating on the night were Potager – A Kitchen Garden, taking out SILVER for Tourism Restaurants & Catering Services and Husk Farm Distillery, a FINALIST in the Tourism Wineries, Distilleries & Breweries category.
At a state level, the Tweed was the most awarded region outside of Sydney, with the capital city’s 4 finalists taking a Gold and Silver, along with 2 category finalists.
Sally Scott, General Manager of The Tweed Tourism Company, said being recognised on the national stage was an incredibly proud moment and a shining reflection of the region’s collective efforts.
“This exciting GOLD win at the national level is a true celebration of the hard work, innovation and tenacity of the Tweed’s amazing tourism operators and the strength of our great partnership with Tweed Shire Council,” Ms Scott said.
“For our Tweed marketing campaigns to be recognised as the best in Australia amongst so many stellar destinations and products is a humbling acknowledgement and one that affirms the Tweed’s place as one of the country’s leading tourism regions.
“We are incredibly proud of the brilliant Tweed tourism businesses that were also recognised at this year’s Australian Tourism Awards with Potager awarded Silver and Husk Farm Distillery a Finalist, each in their respective categories.
“The exceptional results for the Tweed are a shared accolade for all of our remarkable tourism businesses who navigated through the many challenges of Covid, evolved their product and who continue to work hard every day to deliver incredible visitor experiences.”
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry said the outstanding results at the Australian Tourism Awards were testament to the Tweed’s proactive tourism industry, its compelling visitor experiences and impactful consumer marketing campaigns.
“The extended state border closures during COVID-19, along with severe flooding in 2022, were very difficult times for our region, but these challenges galvanised our tourism partners, The Tweed Tourism Company and local operators to develop a strategic response that supported the community through recovery,” Cr Cherry said.
“We are so proud of these outstanding results and, in particular, I congratulate The Tweed Tourism Company for bringing home GOLD in the highly competitive Tourism Marketing & Campaigns category.
“The fantastic success of our local businesses at these national awards, also including Potager and Husk Farm Distillery, is such great recognition of all the hard work, creativity and resilience of the Tweed’s tourism industry and a moment of immense pride for the Tweed business community.”
Managed by the Australian Tourism Industry Council, the Australian Tourism Awards are an annual celebration for all tourism businesses across the country to gather together and recognise outstanding achievements in customer service, innovation and resilience.
For more information on the awards visit:
Full list of winners:
Tourism Marketing & Campaigns GOLD – The Tweed Tourism Company NSW SILVER – Rockhampton Regional Council – Explore Rockhampton QLD BRONZE – BIG Reasons to visit Mandurah – Visit Mandurah WA
Tourism Restaurants & Catering Services GOLD – Grain of the Silos TAS SILVER – Potager NSW BRONZE – CORE Cider House WA
Visitor Information Services GOLD – Canberra and Region Visitors Centre CBR SILVER – Mandurah Visitor Centre WA BRONZE – Port Lincoln Visitor Information Centre SA
Festivals and Events GOLD – National Capital Authority – Lights on the Lake CBR SILVER – 2023 Ord Valley Muster WA BRONZE – Tumbafest Inc NSW
Cultural Tourism GOLD – Royal Australian Mint CBR SILVER – Fun Over 50 Holidays – Immersive Tours and Adventures QLD BRONZE – Geelong Gallery VIC
Unique Accommodation GOLD – Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm WA SILVER – Jamala Wildlife Lodge CBR BRONZE – Woodhouse Adventure Park SA
Tourism Retail, Hire and Services GOLD – Origins Market WA SILVER – The Museum Shop at the National Museum of Australia CBR BRONZE – Go Adventure Nagambie VIC
Caravan & Holiday Parks GOLD – BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort QLD SILVER – Alivio Tourist Park Canberra CBR BRONZE – NRMA Phillip Island Beachfront Holiday Park VIC
Ecotourism GOLD – Fun Over 50 Holidays – Immersive Tours and Adventures QLD SILVER – Sydney by Kayak NSW BRONZE – National Arboretum Canberra CBR
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism Experience GOLD – wukalina Walk TAS SILVER – Cape York Peninsula Lodge QLD BRONZE – Ngurrangga Tours WA
Self-Contained Accommodation GOLD – The Woods Ocean Grove VIC SILVER – Tree Chalets WA BRONZE – The Granary | Richmond Hill TAS
Hosted Accommodation GOLD – The Dragonfly Inn TAS SILVER – Narrows Escape Rainforest Retreat QLD BRONZE – Kangaroo Ridge Retreat VIC
New Tourism Business GOLD – On Board TAS SILVER – Nexus Airlines WA BRONZE – Port River Cruises SA
4 – 4.5 Star Deluxe Accommodation GOLD – Beach Huts Middleton SA SILVER – Ship Inn Stanley TAS BRONZE – Cape York Peninsula Lodge QLD
5 Star Luxury Accommodation GOLD – The Reef House Boutique Hotel and Spa | Adults Tropical Escapes QLD SILVER – Chocolate Gannets VIC BRONZE – Pullman Bunker Bay Resort WA
Business Event Venues GOLD – Darwin Convention Centre NT SILVER – Peppers Silo Hotel TAS BRONZE – Pullman Bunker Bay Resort WA
Tour & Transport Operators GOLD – Air Adventure Golf TAS SILVER – Swan River Seaplanes WA BRONZE – NT Bird Specialists Birding & Photographic Safaris NT
Major Tour & Transport Operators GOLD – Pennicott Wilderness Journeys TAS SILVER – Ocean Rafting QLD BRONZE – Searoad Ferries VIC
Adventure Tourism GOLD – Ocean Rafting QLD SILVER – Bendleby Ranges SA BRONZE – Balloon Aloft Australia NSW
Excellence in Accessible Tourism GOLD – Adelaide Fringe SA SILVER – Accessible Accommodation VIC BRONZE – Katherine Outback Experience NT
Excellence in Food Tourism GOLD – Love Lord Howe NSW SILVER – The Truffle Farm – Home of Australia’s first black Truffle TAS BRONZE – Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market SA
Tourist Attractions GOLD – Katherine Outback Experience NT SILVER – Bundaberg Rum Distillery Visitor Experience QLD BRONZE – d’Arenberg SA
Major Tourist Attractions GOLD – Australian Reptile Park NSW SILVER – Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary QLD BRONZE – Zoos Victoria – Melbourne Zoo VIC
Major Festivals and Events GOLD – Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers QLD SILVER – Tesselaar KaBloom VIC BRONZE – Darwin Festival NT
The Tweed rules! Award winners at the prestigious 2024 Australian Tourism Awards held in Darwin on Friday 15 March are from left: Greer Zunker (TTC), Steve Cox (Destination NSW), Sally Scott (TTC), Pete Burr (Potager) and Harriet Messenger (Husk Distillers).
Tweed Shire Council wishes to acknowledge the Ngandowal and Minyungbal speaking people of the Bundjalung Country, in particular the Goodjinburra, Tul-gi-gin and Moorung – Moobah clans, as being the traditional owners and custodians of the land and waters within the Tweed Shire boundaries. Council also acknowledges and respects the Tweed Aboriginal community’s right to speak for its Country and to care for its traditional Country in accordance with its lore, customs and traditions.
Kunghur community celebrates re-opening of historic hall
Kunghur Hall provides a great venue for all types of community functions.
Kunghur Hall is now open for community hire. The multi-purpose space, fit with stage, polished flooring and activity room is suitable for private events, regular classes and a range of other activities.
To celebrate the opening of the hall for community hire, Council hosted a community event on Sunday 25 February complete with a sausage sizzle, live music by Mark Ferguson and Phillip Glass, and the captivating storytelling from local bush poet, Paddy O’Brien.
Kunghur Hall is now open for communty hire. There will be a free movie afternoon at the hall on Saturday 13 April.
The hall’s stage and sizeable outdoor areas were the perfect setting for the afternoon which also featured the Tweed Regional Museum’s mobile exhibition Museum on Wheels (MoW) and local members of the Kunghur Rural Fire Service.
Council’s Team Leader – Community Wellbeing Lisa Francisco said the hall would be widely used for a range of purposes.
“It’s taken some time to get the hall ready for the community – it’s fantastic to be able to offer it to residents, who can now book the space for regular or one-off events,” Ms Francisco said.
“The hall has such a rich history and the space has so much character, it can be used for everything from art exhibitions to events to classes, you name it.
“If you’re thinking of booking a space, please do check it out.”
Council will host a free family friendly movie afternoon at Kunghur Hall on Saturday 13 April which will feature a screening of the popular film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The screening will offer guests free popcorn and seating via complimentary beanbags. The event starts at 2 pm.
Situated in the heart of Kunghur, the hall was built in 1915 and was used for a range of activities including community dances, celebrations and more recently, a pre-school.
The hall joins other venues available for hire across the Tweed, including Kingscliff Hall, Banora Point Community Centre and Tweed Heads South Community Centre which are all bookable through Council.
Council offers these venues for hire to help facilitate the building of strong community bonds and to help people be more active and healthy.
To book your free tickets to a Free Movie Afternoon at Kunghur Hall: Hunt for the Wilderpeople, visit humanitix.
Local bush poet Paddy O’Brien entertains the community at the recent Kunghur Hall open day.
Tweed Shire Council wishes to acknowledge the Ngandowal and Minyungbal speaking people of the Bundjalung Country, in particular the Goodjinburra, Tul-gi-gin and Moorung – Moobah clans, as being the traditional owners and custodians of the land and waters within the Tweed Shire boundaries. Council also acknowledges and respects the Tweed Aboriginal community’s right to speak for its Country and to care for its traditional Country in accordance with its lore, customs and traditions.
“Northern Rivers and Gold Coast hinterland function venue finder, listing meeting venues for hire, including community halls and public halls, suitable for events, workshops, and seminars. Also ideal for a family celebration, weddings, receptions and family gatherings.”
Residents survey the destruction of Blacks Drain along Tweed Valley Way at South Murwillumbah in the days following the February-March 2022 deluge. (Photo credit Toni Kelly Fleeton)
Flood recovery remains a major focus of Tweed Shire Council, as the community marks two years since the worst natural disaster in the Tweed’s recorded history.
Current estimates show the flood, which began on 28 February 2022 and continued in March of that year, caused more than $369 million in damages to Council-owned assets.
New portable radios, purchased with donations raised through the Together Tweed Mayoral Flood Appeal 2022, were delivered to residents at Chinderah’s Homestead Holiday Park in May 2023. Pictured here are (from left) residents Lyn Tupaea and Michelle Shaw, Mayor Chris Cherry, and Red Cross representatives Tammy Jones and Jasmin.
A total of 3,742 road damage items were logged across the Tweed following the disaster, with additional damage to water and wastewater infrastructure, parks and sports fields, and some 90 Council-owned buildings impacted by the floodwaters.
Council crews and contractors have since focused on restoring major road links and public infrastructure while building greater resilience into community assets so they can better withstand any flooding in the future.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry said flood survivors, particularly the many Tweed residents whose homes and businesses were inundated during the event, were in our thoughts.
“Recovery is a long journey and we walk it together,” Cr Cherry said.
“It has been a roller coaster two years since the worst flood in recorded history impacted our community and I know today will again be difficult for many people, particularly those who remain displaced after losing their homes to the flood.
“We have made significant progress in our flood recovery and I would like to thank all those who have contributed to that effort and who remain committed to ensuring the Tweed is better prepared next time we are faced with such a flooding disaster.
“Unfortunately, nature dealt us another blow in January this year, when we experienced new flooding which caused more than $5.7 million in additional damage at 174 sites across the Tweed. We are grateful the Federal and NSW Governments have now extended their Disaster Recovery funding to include the January 2024 flooding events.”
To date, more than $90 million has been spent on flood repair work in the Tweed since 2022, with 3,040 road jobs completed – representing more than 80% of roadwork damages by number.
Some of the major road achievements completed include the restoration of Scenic Drive, Reserve Creek Road, Limpinwood Road, Numinbah Road, Nimbin Road and a landslip on Tyalgum Road.
However, work continues on the biggest and most complex restoration project in the Tweed, the extreme landslip on Tyalgum Road, where a temporary single lane track has been built to restore access for residents while permanent works get underway.
Other major works still ongoing include the restoration of Kyogle Road where there are three major slips and multiple heavy patching is taking place, the rebuilding of Mt Warning Road, Urliup Road and Stokers Road restorations.
Council has completed its cleanout and repair of 90 inundated Council buildings, including the $1 million repair of the Murwillumbah Community Centre, which included significant works to improve the future flood resilience of the building.
Other flood damage projects completed or nearing completion include:
Riparian repair of Tweed River bank near Uki
The Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre’s 50m pool and giant water slide at Murwillumbah
Murwillumbah sale yards
Repairs and reinstatement of numerous sporting facilities, including Murwillumbah Netball courts and clubhouse, John Rabjones Oval, Les Cave Oval and clubhouse, Bilambil Sports Complex West, Brian Breckenridge clubhouse and field restoration, Barrie Smith Fields resilience work, Stan Sercombe Oval, Jim Devine Field, Bilambil Sports Complex East.
Council is also continuing its work to increase flood resilience in the Tweed, including securing $16 million in funding for sport and community facilities, $6 million in flood mitigation works, $9 million for road causeway funding and $10 million for a new Council Depot to be built off the floodplain.
It is also continuing its support in the community, including working with the Australian Red Cross Emergency Service to establish a network of more than 25 Community-led Resilience Teams across the Tweed.
This included assisting the Red Cross to purchase portable radios for the CRTs to ensure communities are not isolated should more traditional forms of communication (phones and internet) be lost during an emergency in the future.
Celebrating the reopening of Reserve Creek Road in June 2023 after a major landslip caused by the 2022 flood forced its closure for more than a year.
Tweed Shire Council wishes to acknowledge the Ngandowal and Minyungbal speaking people of the Bundjalung Country, in particular the Goodjinburra, Tul-gi-gin and Moorung – Moobah clans, as being the traditional owners and custodians of the land and waters within the Tweed Shire boundaries. Council also acknowledges and respects the Tweed Aboriginal community’s right to speak for its Country and to care for its traditional Country in accordance with its lore, customs and traditions.
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