Best Travel Ads This Week: Companies Revel in the Reality of Travel Today

This is one of our strongest ad roundups with travel companies from hotels to theme parks to booking websites rolling out new ads for the new year. Travel companies show that they’re keeping track of travel trends by highlighting children’s obsession with mobile devices and the blurry lines between business and leisure trips.

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Days Inn shows that it understands its customers and the broader blurring between business and leisure travel taking place today. Its latest ad starts as the sad tale of a dad on a business trip and ends with the reality that business travelers are carving out more time for leisure activities during business trips.

Universal Studios Orlando‘s latest ad reflects the reality of family vacations today where kids are as likely to be staring at their phones as the attractions in front of them. Universal doesn’t fight the reality, but rather embraces it by showing how the devices can also provide new ways for kids to record the experience.

Booking.com starts 2014 with its first brand campaign ever in Canada. The world’s largest hotel booking site tells viewers that it has something for everyone by turning ordinary hotel amenities like soap, eggs, and blowdryers into trip-changing features. The hilarious ad is something that the brand is likely to expand to markets outside of Canada.

The Indianapolis tourism board Visit Indy created the above video for the group’s 2013 annual meeting. It uses adorable children to outline the basic economic impact tourism has on the city using simple statistics that even industry outsiders would be able to understand. This is the kind of video someone needs to make the U.S. government so they also understand the importance of tourism.

UK hotel chain Premier Inn is rolling out a new bed at all of its properties. Its latest ad shows how guests can expect the new quality of comfort no matter whether they’re in the city, a transit hubs, or the country.