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Travel PPC

Google Ads for UK Hotels, Tours & Travel

Direct bookings that beat Booking.com's 15-20% commission.

We run Google Ads for UK independent hotels, tour operators, ATOL-protected travel firms, and destination marketing organisations. Our focus is on direct bookings at a cost that materially beats OTA commission — and on Google Hotel Ads for properties where real-time rates are the battleground.

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10+ yrs
Inside Google before this
500+
Brands we've worked with
Vertical
Travel & Hospitality-specific playbooks
What breaks

Why Travel & Hospitality Google Ads fail.

01

Booking.com and Expedia outbid hotels on brand terms

OTAs routinely bid on your hotel's brand name, intercepting direct-booking searches and taking 15-20% commission on bookings that should have been direct. Most UK hotels either ignore brand protection or do it ineffectively, losing 10-25% of potential direct revenue.

02

Google Hotel Ads setup complexity blocks most properties

Google Hotel Ads (Property Promotion Ads) require real-time rate and availability feeds via a booking engine integration. Most independent UK hotels either don't have the integration or have it misconfigured, leaving the rate-comparison battle entirely to OTAs.

03

ATOL / ABTA / Package Travel rules restrict copy

UK package travel regulations require specific disclosures on price, cancellation rights, and ATOL protection. Ad copy missing these disclosures risks CAP Code complaints and Trading Standards action. Most PPC agencies produce travel ad copy that technically violates disclosure rules.

What works

Travel & Hospitality PPC tactics that actually produce revenue.

Tactic 01

Brand-term defence against OTAs

Bid aggressively on your hotel or tour operator brand name to outrank Booking.com and Expedia. Your Quality Score on your own brand is near-perfect so effective CPC stays low. Reclaimed commission (15-20% of each direct booking) materially dwarfs the brand-term ad spend.

Tactic 02

Google Hotel Ads / Property Promotion Ads activation

For UK hotels, Google Hotel Ads (now inside Performance Max Travel) is non-negotiable. Requires rates & availability feed via your booking engine (Siteminder, Cloudbeds, Guestline, RoomRaccoon, DerbySoft). Without activation, OTAs win the real-time rate-comparison battle in SERP.

Tactic 03

Destination vs property-level campaigns

Destination intent ('hotels Edinburgh', 'tours Lake District') gets destination-specific Search campaigns. Property intent ('[Hotel Name] Cornwall') gets dedicated brand-protection campaigns. Mid-funnel intent ('boutique hotel Cotswolds') gets Search with property-cluster landing pages.

Tactic 04

Seasonal bidding and booking-window targeting

UK seasonal hotels bid 3-5x baseline during peak booking windows (January for summer, September for winter breaks). Beach and rural hotels have very different booking-window patterns than city hotels. Static year-round bidding leaves 20-40% of peak-season revenue to OTAs.

Tactic 05

Booking-completed conversion with cancellation adjustment

Pass full booking revenue (room rate × nights) as conversion value — but offset cancellations via offline conversion adjustments. Smart Bidding optimising toward gross bookings without cancellation adjustments will scale toward high-cancellation channels that look profitable and aren't.

Our playbook

How we run Travel & Hospitality campaigns.

01

Week 1: OTA audit + Hotel Ads feed readiness

Audit how much commission bleed is going to OTAs on brand-term searches. Assess Google Hotel Ads feed readiness via your booking engine. Review ATOL/ABTA copy requirements for compliance gaps.

02

Week 2: Brand defence + Hotel Ads activation

Brand-term campaigns live with OTA-conquest bidding. Google Hotel Ads activated with rates/availability feed. Destination-specific campaigns built for mid-funnel intent. ATOL/ABTA compliance copy reviewed.

03

Week 3: Launch + seasonal bid automation

Campaigns live with seasonal bid modifiers. Booking-completed conversion tracking with full revenue value. Offline cancellation adjustment configured. First optimisation cycle on day 7.

04

Month 2+: Scale on ADR and length-of-stay

Once booking data flows back, shift Smart Bidding toward higher-value bookings (longer stays, premium room types, package add-ons). This is how a UK hotel shifts from 'cost per booking' to 'cost per high-ADR booking with 3+ nights'.

Frequently asked

Questions about Travel & Hospitality Google Ads.

What is a realistic cost per direct booking for UK hotels via Google Ads?

Independent UK hotels: 6-12% of ADR on brand terms, 15-30% of ADR on non-brand destination campaigns. Tour operators: £40-£180 per booking. B&Bs and smaller properties: 8-15% of booking value. The comparator that matters is direct-booking cost vs OTA commission (typically 15-20%) — any direct campaign coming in under 15% commission is economically superior.

Should independent UK hotels use Google Hotel Ads?

Yes, non-negotiable for competing against Booking.com and Expedia. Google Hotel Ads (Property Promotion Ads inside PMax Travel) show your hotel with real-time rates directly in SERP next to OTAs. Without participation, OTAs win. Requires booking engine integration (Siteminder, Cloudbeds, Guestline, RoomRaccoon) — usually already in place on most UK properties.

How do I prevent OTAs from bidding on my hotel's brand name?

You can't fully prevent it — OTAs have contractual rights under most rate parity agreements. But you can outrank them by running your own brand-term campaigns with high max-CPC and strong Quality Score. Effective CPC stays low on your own brand. For a £150 ADR booking, paying £3 CPC to reclaim a 15% commission (£22.50) is extraordinary economics.

What's the minimum ad spend for UK hotel Google Ads?

£1,000-£2,000/month for independent boutique hotels focused on brand protection and Hotel Ads. £4,000-£12,000/month for mid-size properties running full direct-booking campaigns. £20,000+/month for luxury and resort properties competing on destination-level terms. Below £1,000/month, you cannot meaningfully compete against OTA spend in your category.

How do UK seasonal hotels handle Google Ads in off-season?

Scale back, don't pause. Pausing loses Smart Bidding learning and auction history. Reduce budget to maintain brand-term coverage (cheap) and kill non-brand destination campaigns during the deep off-season. Re-activate destination campaigns 60-90 days before peak-season booking window opens (January-February for summer UK travel, October-November for winter breaks).

How do ATOL and ABTA rules affect travel Google Ads?

ATOL-protected package holidays must display ATOL number and protection status in promotional material. ABTA membership has member advertising guidelines. Package Travel Regulations 2018 require clear pre-contract information. Ad copy missing required disclosures risks CAP Code complaints and Trading Standards action. Tour operator and package travel copy needs dedicated compliance review.
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