New TOURISE and LIONS Advisory Study Reveals How Creativity Creates a Commercial Advantage for Destination Growth

(MENAFN- APCO Worldwide) TOURISE, in collaboration with LIONS Advisory, has released a new global report, IDEAS That Travel, examining how creativity, distinctiveness and trust can drive commercial growth for tourism brands and destinations.

Drawing on insights from more than 8,300 international travelers across 13 markets, alongside industry interviews and case studies, the report reveals that 50% of travelers cannot recall the last tourism advertisement they saw, while 60% believe travel ads look similar. It also identifies an $11 billion marketing investment gap and explores how AI, creators and evolving traveler behaviors are reshaping destination discovery. The report sets out a practical framework for governments, destinations and industry leaders to strengthen brand relevance, build traveler preference, and turn creativity into a long-term competitive advantage.

Please find the full press release attached and the report at the link below.



New TOURISE and LIONS Advisory Study Reveals How Creativity Creates a Commercial Advantage for Destination Growth
•50% of travelers cannot remember the last advertisement they saw for a tourism company or destination, with a further 7% unsure
•Tourism faces an $11 billion marketing investment gap: restoring the category’s share of voice to 3% would require global travel and transport ad spend to reach $43.4 billion by 2027
•63% of Large Language Model (LLM) visibility is driven by long-term brand equity, compared with 22% from current marketing activity and 11% from citation volume

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, 21 October 202– – TOURISE, the w’rld’s premier platform for shaping the future of global tourism, today released IDEAS That Travel, a new report developed in collaboration with LIONS Advisory. The study finds that while travel demand is rising, tourism brands are competing for attention in a more fragmented, socially driven and AI-mediated environment, where visibility alone is no longer enough to secure preference and growth.
“Travelers are discovering destinations earlier and through more channels than ever, from social feeds and creators to communities and AI tools. That raises the bar for tourism brands. Creativity, distinctiveness and trust are becoming central to how destinations earn attention, build preference and remain relevant across the entire traveler ”ourney,” said His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of TOURISE.
IDEAS That Travel draws on an online survey of 8,374 consumers across 13 markets who had traveled internationally in the previous 12 months, conducted in December 2025, alongside in-depth interviews with global industry leaders and analysi’ of LIONS’ marketing research and case studies.
Interviewees include Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A and Co-Founder of AirAsia; David Droga, Vice Chair of Accenture; Gonzalo Brujó, CEO and Global Chairman of Interbrand; and Joanne Chehab, Head of MENA Global Business Solutions at ByteDance / TikTok.
The opportunity is significant, but so is the competition. Thirty-nine percent of travelers expect to travel more in the next 12 months than they did in 2025, rising to 51% of Gen Z and 47% of Millennials. Yet tourism marketing is struggling to stay memorable and distinctive: 60% of travelers say travel ads look similar, 43% find it hard to distinguish between travel brands, and 50% cannot remember the last tourism advertisement they saw, with a further 7% unsure.
At the same time, 55% of travelers already use AI in holiday planning and 62% expect to use it more often over the next year. The report argues that future growth will depend on brands building relevance before travelers enter the booking funnel, and doing so consistently across human and AI-led discovery.
“Creativity is a commercial advantag”,” said Paul Coxhill, Chief Operating Officer & President, LIO“S. “Numerous empirical studies evidence crea’ivity’s role in business growth. The tourism sector is fertile ground for creative effectiveness. Few categories deal so directly in emotion, experience, and memory. Yet in recent years, the sector has seen massive shifts in how people discover, book, and engage with destinations. While demand is rising, so is competition and com”lexity.”
The report also identifies a widening visibility challenge. Global travel and transport advertising spend rebounded to an estimated $32.4 billion in 2025, but th’ category’s share of voice remains below pre-pandemic levels. Restoring it to 3% would require investment to reach $43.4 billion by 2027, an $11 billion increase in two years. The report stresses that the answer is not simply more spend, but smarter investment in the social, creator, video and entertainment-led environments where travel intent increasingly forms.
Against this backdrop, IDEAS That Travel sets out a practical framework for tourism brands built around five drivers of effectiveness: Investment, Distinctiveness, Engagement, Authenticity and Seamlessness. Together, they are designed to help brands build visibility, create memorable associations, earn attention through storytelling, strengthen trust through credible experiences, and connect the customer journey across physical and digital touchpoints.
Case studies from Airbnb, Tourism Australia, Visit Sweden, Visit North Carolina and Southwest Airlines show how the principles can be applied in practice. The report concludes that the tourism brands best positioned for future growth will compete not only for bookings, but for attention and cultural relevance, connecting storytelling, creators, AI, media and the lived experience into one coherent system.
The full report is available now at .




 

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