Online Travel Giants Invest Record $17.8B in Marketing Amidst Raging Competition

In 2024, online travel giants Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, and Trip.com Group reportedly invested a record-breaking $17.8 billion in sales and marketing, highlighting the fierce competition in the market.

The year 2024 marked a significant milestone for the online travel industry, as four of its largest global entities—Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, and Trip.com Group—collectively invested a record $17.8 billion in sales and marketing. This figure represents an increase of $1 billion from the previous year’s spending, underscoring the fierce competition among these intermediaries and their continuous efforts to secure and expand their customer bases.

Trip.com Group, in particular, saw a 29% increase in its sales and marketing investment in 2024, bringing its total spending to $1.6 billion. The company justified this increase as necessary to strengthen its global business and brand awareness through more promotional activities. Remarkably, the China-based online travel agency (OTA) had a whopping 117% increase in its marketing investment in 2023, following a significant reduction during the COVID-19 years.

Meanwhile, Airbnb’s sales and marketing spending rose by 22% to $2.1 billion in 2024. However, the company maintained its investment at a 19% share of revenue. Ellie Mertz, Airbnb’s chief financial officer, emphasized that most of their expenditure was on brand marketing, which she described as a fixed amount of spending for each market that doesn’t necessarily need to scale up like performance marketing.

When looking at the two largest online brands, Booking Holdings and Expedia Group, there has been an increase in investment. However, their leaders hint at a shift in their approach. Booking Holdings, which invested $7.3 billion in marketing in 2024, is reportedly exploring using agentic models to change how customers discover and use their platforms. Similarly, Expedia Group, which increased its sales and marketing expenses by 12% to $6.8 billion in 2024, highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in transforming how travelers search.

Both companies are reportedly excited about the development of social media channels, representing a new investment area. Moreover, some experts believe that the advent of AI assistants or agents necessitates a complete refresh of the paid marketing landscape.

Regardless of these ongoing changes and innovations, one thing remains clear: the online travel giants are willing to invest heavily in marketing to strengthen their brands and acquire customers. As they continue to battle against each other and suppliers in the market, it will be interesting to see how their strategies evolve and what new developments will shape the industry in the coming years.

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