How to use the summer travel surge to invest in long-term customer loyalty

Book today, board tomorrow — that’s the mantra for Brits looking to travel this summer.

New industry research has found that bookings for holidays departing the next day have increased by 26 per cent year-on-year (YoY), with those made within two and three days of departure rising by 19 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. A variety of factors — from inflation and fuel prices to geopolitical instability — is driving a shift from year-long holiday countdowns to spur-of-the-moment getaways. And don’t discount the heatwaves, either; with many Brits spontaneously swapping Nice for Northumberland and Sardinia for the Isle of Skye as they embark on ‘coolcations’ to escape persistent heat.

For travel and transport brands, the summer months have always created huge volumes of in-market customers. Even more so in light of the trend towards last-minute escapes. So, for marketing managers, it's tempting to push all spend into performance channels because the demand already exists. After all, why waste budget when all holidaymakers need is a final nudge towards the ‘book now’ button?

However, WPP Media and Thinkbox’s Profit Ability 2 study reveals that businesses who underinvest in brand-building leave serious profit on the table. And in reality, summer is the exact time to build loyalty while audiences are highly engaged - not the moment to pause brand investment.

You don’t need ‘performance’ media to drive immediate results 

With so much recent economic uncertainty, Profit Ability 2 found that brands’ advertising investment increasingly prioritises ‘performance’ channels. In other words, channels like social media and online search that can deliver short-term results, 50 per cent of their total return is generated in the first week.

Yet through analysis of 624 brands and over 7,400 different campaign scenarios, the research discovered that many businesses stop investing in advertising long before that investment ceases to drive returns. Travel brands in particular could increase their advertising investment by 275 per cent and still keep every pound profitable. And investing for long-term results also delivers in the first year, but only if brands deploy their investment at the right time, and in the right media.

Profit Ability 2 also reveals how profitability varies by media channel. While performance channels like generic PPC can produce short-term ROI, longer-term brand-building channels like linear TV and print drive the highest rates of average profit ROI increases. Linear TV also has the highest saturation point at £330,000, while paid social ranks last at £31,000. Essentially, advertisers can increase investment in linear TV to a higher level than other media and it will continue to generate a profitable return, whereas paid social will lose efficacy much sooner.

Perhaps most importantly, the study highlights that immediate payback on investment is not exclusive to ‘performance’ media. While generic PPC performs favourably, and accounts for the largest proportion of immediate payback (30.5 per cent), linear TV is the second biggest driver, accounting for 20.5 per cent, followed by paid social (15.1 per cent), audio (8.6 per cent) and BVOD (7.3 per cent). In the travel sector, when looking at short-term profitability, advertising’s profit ROI is £1.19 per pound invested, whereas long-term profitability ranks at £2.62. Good things come to those who wait.

Last-minute bookings rely on early brand visibility

We also can’t ignore the impact of AI and generative engine optimisation (GEO). According to ABTA’s Holiday Habits 2025-26 research, twice as many people used AI tools for holiday inspiration in 2025 compared with 2024, with this trend only set to crystallise. Brands need to prioritise long-term marketing investment just to rank in AI’s results — otherwise, when consumers ask ChatGPT for its advice on a last-minute trip, it’ll be competitors getting booked through the chatbot’s recommendations.

There’s also the data impact here which cannot be overlooked. Accurately directing strong brand campaigns requires a bedrock of data, which can come from a variety of different sources. Our recent partnership with Trainline for example gave our partners access to insights on over 18 million UK customers and their travel habits. This provides a big opportunity for brands across industries perhaps by targeting sun cream ads to holidaymakers who we can see are travelling to the airport this August.

A similarly modern phenomenon is the rise of influencers. Creator content is beginning to dominate earlier stages of the booking journey, with UK travel sales driven by creators up 47 per cent YoY in Q1 2025. Far from holiday-booking slam dunks, the travel customer journey is fragmenting long before any consumer prepares to make a purchase.

Ultimately, even the most last-minute travel decisions are shaped well in advance — by advertising, creators, AI tools, and more. Brands that appear only at the final click risk missing out on the chance to influence this shortlist.

Travel marketers should therefore view discovery, research, and conversion as one continuous journey. In the second half of 2026, the strongest brands will be those that remain visible, useful, and credible across all the different places where travellers gather information and form their decisions.

It’s a careful balance between making the most of the in-season surge while investing in customer loyalty that lasts long beyond the summer. Less lastminute.com, and more everything, everywhere, all at once.

Sidney Draper is the strategy director at WPP Media