How Travel Brands Can Seize the ‘Q5’ Opportunity on TikTok

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

The travel industry is poised for steady growth in 2025, fueled by increased consumer spending on experiences and the continued rise of blended trips. While pent-up demand has subsided since the post-pandemic surge, this growth is sustained by evolving travel preferences, including heightened interest from younger, digitally savvy audiences. 

At the forefront of this shift is TikTok, an entertainment platform that continues to reshape how travelers discover destinations, plan their trips, and make bookings. Unlike static images or lengthy text, videos provide a dynamic and visually engaging experience, authentically capturing the essence of travel and inspiring viewers in a powerful way.

Travel Intent on TikTok

Recent data shows that 65.7% of TikTok users plan to travel internationally in the next 12 months, highlighting the platform’s influence on global travel aspirations.

Additionally, 88.3% of TikTok users are preparing for domestic trips within the same period, emphasizing the platform’s role in inspiring both near and far travel.¹ This strong intent underscores TikTok’s evolution into more than just a social platform — it’s become a critical tool for travel inspiration and decision-making, particularly among younger generations.

Understanding TikTok’s Q5 Opportunity

During the period informally known as Q5, which spans the first five weeks of the new year, TikTok users actively engage with family-centric and lifestyle content, boosting their travel planning and booking behavior.

With video views for travel content peaking early in the new year and advertising costs dropping, travel brands can use this strategic window to capture attention, spark wanderlust, and drive conversions through TikTok’s innovative tools and vibrant community.

Why Q5 Matters for Travel Brands

“TikTok users were more interested in travel during Q5 than they were over the rest of the year,” said Danielle Johnson, group vertical director - travel, tech, and telco at TikTok. “This offers a unique opportunity for travel brands to capture consumer attention as TikTok users actively plan their next big trips.” 

Travel inspiration surges on TikTok during this period, climbing 8% higher than the rest of the year and peaking in week two.² This creates a highly impactful window for travel advertisers to stand out and foster meaningful engagement.

Connecting With Travelers Across Multiple Plans

Imagine a mother of two planning multiple trips: a big family vacation, a girls’ getaway, and a bachelorette party for her best friend. She turns to TikTok for ideas, searching for family-friendly destinations, group activity suggestions, and trendy spots for the bachelorette celebration.

Her journey might begin by searching #familytravel content, where she discovers creators showcasing multi-generational vacation ideas. Next, she could explore content under #girlstrip or #bacheloretteparty, uncovering unique experiences through creator recommendations. 

“By positioning their content at the right touchpoints, travel brands can inspire her decisions, simplify her planning process, and ultimately drive bookings across these different occasions,” Johnson said. “Q5 is the time to connect with consumers juggling multiple travel plans, ensuring TikTok is where they find all the inspiration they need.” 

Capitalizing on Family-Centric Travel Content

Family-centric travel content sees a natural boost on TikTok during Q5, thanks to the platform’s ability to connect diverse demographics in a seamless and engaging way. 

“TikTok’s broad appeal spans generations, with a shared language that enables younger users, parents, and grandparents to interact effortlessly,” Johnson said. “This intergenerational dynamic is especially pronounced during the holiday season, a time defined by family gatherings and shared moments. These gatherings often become organic planning sessions, setting the stage for families to discuss and map out their major trips for the year ahead.”

Leveraging Family Trends and Tools

The #MumsofTikTok community exemplifies this trend, showcasing how moms and multi-generational families share and seek travel inspiration. During Q5 in 2024, there was a 27% boost in views for videos tagged both #travel and #family.³ The boost from that combination was seven times greater than for #travel alone, amplifying the conversation around multi-generational and family-friendly trips.

“To capitalize on the growing interest in family travel, brands should focus on creating authentic, family-centric content,” Johnson said. “Highlighting multi-generational destinations, family-friendly activities, and stress-free travel planning tips positions brands as the go-to solution for families planning their next adventure. 

TikTok’s Family & Parenting Pulse line-up makes this strategy even more impactful by placing ads directly after the platform’s top-performing content. With content appearing next to the best 4% of family-related videos, this tool boosts engagement and strengthens emotional connections with family travelers.”

Optimizing Content for Destination Search

Choosing where to travel is one of the most thrilling parts of planning a trip, and TikTok has become a key player in this discovery phase. For millions of users, the platform acts as a visually immersive window to the world, where first impressions carry significant weight. These impressions often spark brand love, creating a direct path to influencing booking decisions.

“To maximize this opportunity, especially at the beginning of the year, travel brands should diversify their destination content to appeal to a broad range of interests,” Johnson said. “From serene beach getaways to bustling city breaks, national parks for nature lovers, and adrenaline-packed adventure destinations, brands can create an ecosystem of content that inspires all types of travelers.”

Popular destinations and hashtags on TikTok range from international destinations like El Salvador and Japan to places across the U.S., showcasing diverse preferences.⁴ 

By building a destination-focused content library during this period, brands can position themselves as the ultimate source of travel inspiration on the platform.

Embracing Crossover Lifestyle Trends

To succeed on TikTok, travel brands must view consumers as multi-dimensional individuals with intersecting interests. TikTok brings these overlaps to life, allowing brands to connect with users across various passions, from food and fashion to travel, creating more meaningful and engaging interactions.

Data shows that these overlapping interests are not coincidental but highly significant. For example, during Q5, creators used food-related hashtags in #travel posts, with similar trends for fashion-related hashtags. Regarding viewership, popular #travel videos featured cruise-related hashtags like #CruiseTok, as well as aviation-focused hashtags such as #airport, #aviation, and #plane.⁵

“Brands can capitalize on these behaviors by crafting content that taps into these overlapping themes,” Johnson said. “Highlighting destinations through multiple lenses — such as culinary adventures, local fashion, or unique transportation experiences —  ensures that brands capture attention across varied interests.”

Integrating Tentpole Moments Into Branding Strategies

The shift in consumer behavior post-Covid has amplified the focus on experiences over material possessions, a trend that aligns perfectly with the travel industry’s strengths. As highlighted in Skift’s 2025 Megatrends, live tourism is becoming unstoppable, with travelers increasingly planning trips around iconic events like the Super Bowl, concert tours, and cultural celebrations. 

TikTok users are at the forefront of this shift, with 69% stating they would rather gift experiences than material goods.⁶ For travel brands, this trend represents a golden opportunity to connect with audiences seeking unforgettable moments. 

By aligning with tentpole events and leveraging creators to showcase culturally relevant, authentic content, brands can deepen their emotional connection with audiences, foster loyalty, and drive meaningful results in an increasingly experience-driven market.

Utilizing TikTok’s Strategic Tools to Activate Audiences

To harness these trends and maximize reach, engagement, and conversions during Q5, travel brands can leverage the platform's strategic tools: 

• Smart+: TikTok’s new performance AI solution that automates targeting and bidding, ensuring ads reach the right audience with relevant, compelling creative. Pair this with family-centric content, quick destination highlights, or travel deal promotions to inspire users.
• Symphony Creative Studio: An AI-powered platform that helps to simplify video creation, making it faster and more accessible. With minimal inputs — such as a product listing URL, existing assets, and product details — brands can produce engaging travel content in minutes.
• Travel Pulse: Strategically positions travel brands alongside trending content, boosting visibility and driving discovery among TikTok’s thriving travel community.
• Catalog Ads for Travel: Designed to drive bookings through targeted travel-specific campaigns, these ads help guide users seamlessly through the marketing funnel, turning their inspiration into action.
• Search Ads Campaign: A search campaign ad solution that allows brands to be discovered by TikTok users at key moments of curiosity and exploration. With extensive keyword targeting, enhanced bidding capabilities, creative flexibility, and comprehensive search budget management, advertisers can now capture travelers while they are searching for new destinations and travel tips.

“These solutions enable brands to effectively reach new audiences, drive meaningful engagement, and seamlessly convert inspiration into bookings, ensuring a frictionless journey from discovery to transaction during the critical Q5 planning period and beyond,” Johnson said. 

To learn more about TikTok’s travel advertising solutions and contact a representative, click here.

This content was created collaboratively by TikTok for Business and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.

1.  GWI Travel, US, Q1+Q3 2024, TikTok's use of this data does not equate to an endorsement ↩︎
2.  Source: Tiktok Internal Data, US, Jan 2023 - June 2024, #travel. ↩︎
3.  Source: Tiktok Internal Data, US, July 2023 - June 2024, #travel and #family, #travel not #family ↩︎
4.  Source: Tiktok Internal Data, US, Jan 2024, searches like "travel" ↩︎
5.  Source: Tiktok Internal Data, US, Jan 2024, #travel ↩︎
6.  Source: IPG Magna Media Trials ‘The TikTok Blueprint for Tentpole Success’, December 2024 ↩︎