TikTok has rolled out Travel Ads, a catalog-based advertising solution that uses artificial intelligence to connect travel brands with users who are ready to book trips, per PhocusWire.

Travel Ads operates through TikTok’s Smart+ system and uses catalog integration to automatically promote hotels, flights, and destinations at scale. The platform employs a custom travel intent model to identify audiences ready to book, then matches users with offerings based on their in-market activities and preferences.

The solution supports three catalog types: flights, which capture route information; hotels, which highlight property selling points; and destinations, a beta option customizable for different travel applications.

Three Creative Formats Available

Advertisers can select from three formats. Single Video pairs a hero video with up to 10 personalized travel cards, showing details such as hotel name, destination, price, or flight path. Cards appear two seconds after video play begins and auto-slide every four seconds.

Catalog Video draws from catalog content and pairs it with a single auto-generated travel card overlaid on the video. Cards appear two seconds after play and link directly to the featured product.

Catalog Carousel presents a scrollable carousel of catalog images with clickable product tags. Users can swipe through images in both directions, with each ad featuring a single caption and looped background music.

Early Performance Results

Accor reported a 9% increase in return on ad spend, a 17% decrease in cost per complete payment, and a 54% decrease in cost per click. Melia saw Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) increases of 156% in Spain, 178% in the U.S., and 291% in the U.K. versus web conversions. Etihad recorded a 7% lift in flight search, a 17% increase in flight bookings, and a $232 increase in ROAS per booking.

Expedia Group is using Travel Ads across its Expedia, Vrbo, and Hotels.com brands. The company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Jochen Koedijk, noted that the format helps travelers find relevant content at key moments.

The launch follows TikTok’s August partnership with Booking.com, which allowed select U.S. users to book hotels directly within the app. According to Phocuswright research, almost two-thirds of travelers who use social media for trip planning follow through with a trip purchase or decision based on the content they consume.

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