No Single Hero Platform
We've built the Q3 2026 SearchPulse Travel Edition around a simple but important finding: there's no single hero platform in travel search anymore, just a rotating pool of four or five tools people move between depending on the stage of the trip. AI increasingly opens that journey, offering inspiration and a starting point, but it rarely closes it, travellers still check reviews, weather and second opinions before they commit.
Video is playing a bigger part in that rotation than brands might expect, and not with the audience you'd assume. 49% of 25 to 34s now use YouTube for travel planning, compared to just 29% of 18 to 24s, proof that assumptions about who's watching can be exactly backwards. For travel brands, the challenge isn't picking one channel to win; it's being credible and visible across all of them, from inspiration through to the final booking.
Earn Trust Across the Whole Journey
The future of travel search isn't just about who inspires the trip, it's about who stays trusted through every stage of planning it. Download the full Q3 2026 SearchPulse Travel Edition to see how AI, video and community platforms are reshaping the travel journey, and what that means for staying visible, credible and competitive.
View now“We've spent a decade optimising the click. The job now is being one of the three names the customer starts from, wherever they happen to start.” — George Shuttlewood, CMO, Global Touring
