Best Travel Ads This Week: Taking Travel from Mundane to Magnificent

The ultimate goal of any travel ad is to convince a traveler to pick a certain brand or destination over the competition. Some brands get right to the point while others practice a “show, don’t tell” philosophy that doesn’t always succeed.

This week’s SkiftAds roundup looks at both types of ads. Days Inn lays out why it sticks to the basics and offers affordable prices, while Qantas takes a space rover grocery shopping to explain how its loyalty program works.

FOR ALL OF OUR SKIFTADS OF THE WEEK COLLECTION, CHECK OUT OUR ARCHIVES HERE.

Why plan a business meeting when you can organize a brilliant gathering? Marriott builds on its “Travel Brilliantly” campaign with a new ad seeking to redefine business travel. The campaign targets millennial travelers by comparing Marriott’s creative get-togethers to meet-the-teacher nights.

According to Marriott, this is a space where millennials can “let their minds come together, see which ideas float to the top, hatch grand plans, find common ground, and make magic.”

Hotels.com positions itself as the hotel booking website that travelers can trust in its newest TV spot. By salvaging a family vacation with mobile booking, the company also promotes its app and 30 percent discounts all within 29 seconds. It’s cute and clever, but not cutting it for the Expedia subsidiary that is currently on the hunt for a new creative agency.

No champagne, no seaweed wraps, and no princess pampering.

In this new TV spot, Days Inn take prides in bringing guests the bare essentials at an affordable cost. Making an economy brand look attractive can be a challenge and Days Inn’s strategy of employing comedy works. However, it fails to target any real audience, other than the very broad consumer set that likes to save money.

Qantas Airlines‘ new TV commercial promoting its frequent flyer program is bizarre. The ad follows the Mars rover, Curiosity, as it gains loyalty points at local businesses. The ultimate message is that Qantas flyers can travel as far as Mars for points or as close-by as a local grocery store.