In travel, the path to purchase isn’t a funnel. It’s a detour-filled, emotionally charged mix of search, scroll, dream, price-check, ghost and panic-book. Travel consumers don’t move neatly through a funnel. They zigzag, backtrack, second-guess and get distracted. 

For marketers, that means one thing: more media will not solve the problem; smarter systems will. Systems built to interpret evolving behaviours, predict intent and show up with something meaningful at just the right moment.

Canadian travellers already use AI to plan trips, parse reviews, set price alerts and personalize itineraries. According to Omnicom’s Futures Destination AI report, nearly one in four Canadian travellers expect AI to help them optimize for deals, routes and hidden gems. 

So how should travel marketers respond? Here are four key shifts that travel brands need to understand right now.

From funnel to field guide

The old model was simple: Inspire. Consider. Convert. Repeat.

But that model assumes logic and order. Today’s travel journeys look more like this: Discover. Dream. Price-check. Get distracted. Replan. Confirm. Screenshot. Share. Ghost. Return. Book. And few sectors feel that squiggly-line behaviour more than travel. Because travel isn’t just a transaction. It’s emotional. It’s aspirational. It’s often spontaneous. And sometimes it’s completely reactive. A scroll through #Portugal on a rainy morning can send someone into a full itinerary build within hours.

Canadians now use an average of 19 touchpoints across seven platforms before they book travel. The idea that one channel or one step “converts” someone is outdated. A TikTok from a travel influencer, a Google flight alert, a friend’s beach photo – they all matter.

Marketing can’t guide people down a funnel. It must guide them through a journey that constantly redraws itself in real time.

Smarter signals over simpler attribution

Canadian marketers have long wrestled with last-click attribution. It is easy. It is tidy. And it is tempting. But in the messy world of travel, it is wrong.

What about the Instagram reel that sparked the idea? The review that calmed the nerves? The newsletter that reframed the destination? These do not convert in isolation, but they compound into action. 

AI can now surface these invisible assists – not just who clicked last, but what sparked the journey to begin with. With models like predictive attribution, brands can begin to map cause and correlation across every signal, not just the final one.

AI will be your customer’s co-pilot whether you like it or not

Canadian consumers are already inviting AI into the planning process. They are asking ChatGPT to build itineraries; using Hopper and Kayak to set price alerts that auto-adjust based on market shifts; letting TikTok algorithms surface location inspiration before Google even gets a look. 

If AI is becoming a co-pilot for the traveller, it needs to become a co-pilot for the marketer too. Think of how AI can:

• Detect when passive browsing turns into active trip planning.
• Surface creative variations based on emotional state.
• Anticipate booking windows based on behavioural and seasonal trends.
• Generate tailored content at scale, from personalized offers to contextual reminders.

Canadian marketers should use AI not just to automate workflows, but to interpret consumer intent more accurately and more empathetically. The goal is not to replace the marketer. It is to make them more precise, faster and better informed.

Build ecosystems, not just campaigns

Travel intent in Canada does not follow campaign calendars. It spikes with long weekends, surprise seat sales, influencer trends and weather shifts. 

Campaign thinking locks marketers into fixed timelines and rigid KPIs, but ecosystems allow brands to flow with culture. 

The best travel marketers are building systems that respond to search demand and sentiment in near-real time; adjust creative dynamically based on behaviour; and run always-on feedback loops between media, creative and performance.

That might mean triggering a snowstorm-led West Coast escape campaign. Or adjusting influencer spend based on sudden search volume in Quebec. Ecosystem thinking means that campaigns still matter, but they are nested within a system that listens, adapts and evolves. 

Final boarding call: from control to contribution

The best travel marketing does not control the journey; it contributes to it. Each touchpoint. Each piece of creative. Each moment. It is not about closing the sale. It is about making the next step easier, clearer or more exciting.

Here is what Canadian marketers can do now:

• Rethink measurement. Understand how media shapes demand, not just how it captures it.
• Focus on orchestration. Media, strategy and creative teams should not just be aligned, they should be integrated.
• Create flexible, modular content. Version for intent, mindset and emotion, not just channel.
• Invest in signal fluency. Do not just read what people click. Read what they feel. Champion mindset-based journeys. Speak differently to the dreamer, the doubter and the deal-seeker.

The future of travel marketing is not about better funnels. It is about better feelers. Systems that read the market. Feel the mood. And respond in kind.

And that future is already here. Bon voyage to the old playbook. There is no linear journey in travel anymore – just a million signals, swirling in real time, waiting for a brand to meet them halfway.

Michael Grabowski is director of marketing science at OMG agency Hearts & Science.