Helping travelers discover new things to do

While travel restrictions continue to vary across the globe, people are still dreaming of places to visit and things to do. Searches for “activities near me” have grown over the past 12 months, with specific queries like “ziplining” growing by 280% and “aquariums” by 115% globally. In response to this increasing interest, and to support the travel industry’s recovery, we’re introducing new ways to discover attractions, tours and activities on Search. 

Now, when people search on Google for attractions like the Tokyo Tower or the Statue of Liberty, they’ll see not just general information about the point of interest, but also booking links for basic admission and other ticket options where available. In the months ahead, we’ll also begin showing information and booking links for experiences in a destination, like wine tasting in Paris or bike tours in California. 

Select ‘Tickets’ to see ticketing options available from partner websites.

There are a variety of partners that we’re working with, including online travel agencies and technology providers, to make this information available on Search. If you operate any attractions, tours or activities and want to participate, learn more in the Help Center.

Our goal is to help people find and compare all the best travel options, which is why partners can promote their ticket booking links at zero cost — similar to the free hotel booking links introduced earlier this year.

While it’s still early days, we’ve found that free hotel booking links result in increased engagement for both small and large partners. Hotels working with the booking engine WebHotelier saw more than $4.7M in additional revenue from free booking links this summer. With more than 6,000 active hotels, WebHotelier shared that they were "pleasantly surprised to receive reservations right from Google at no additional cost." This is one of the ways Google can support your business during recovery. 

Introducing a new ad format for things to do

We’re also introducing a new ad format for things to do that will help advertisers drive additional revenue and bookings as recovery continues. With more details like pricing, images and reviews, these new ads on Search will help partners stand out and expand their reach even further. Read more about how to get started in our Help Center.

Ads to promote discovery of things to do and drive bookings.

It’s more important than ever to get the right insights, education and best practices you need as the travel landscape continues to evolve. In July, our team launched Travel Insights with Google in the U.S. to share Google’s travel demand insights with the world. And tomorrow — Thursday, September 23 — we’ll host a webinar to share tips and tricks for using Travel Insights with Google to help you better understand evolving travel demand. 

Across our new product updates and ongoing feature enhancements, we look forward to partnering closely on the travel recovery effort and preparing for the road ahead. 

by Richard Holden via The Keyword