The Wrong Way to Start the Conversation
Too many travel marketers still operate with an outdated mindset: they expect the customer to do all the work. The unspoken script goes something like this:
“Search for me. Click for me. Navigate my website for me. Follow the funnel I’ve designed. Convert for me. Book now. Figure out my pricing. Answer your own questions. Provide your own service.”
And when this approach inevitably fails, the fallback is almost always the same: lead with discounts, booking incentives, and deadlines—before doing the real work of communicating brand, product, and value. This is not just lazy marketing; it’s a strategy that erodes loyalty and commoditizes your offering.
The Reality of Today’s Traveler
The modern traveler is empowered, informed, and inundated with choice. They’re not beholden to your funnel or your website—they can compare, contrast, and book alternatives in a matter of minutes.
- Friction kills intent. Every click, every unclear price, every unanswered question creates friction. Travelers won’t fight through it; they’ll abandon and go elsewhere.
- Price-first kills value. When the first message is 30% off, you’ve trained the market to wait for a deal. You’ve replaced the richness of the experience with the blandness of commodity.
- Linear journeys are fiction. The customer journey isn’t a tidy funnel. It’s circular, messy, and influenced by dozens of touchpoints you don’t control. Attempting to force a linear path only accelerates abandonment.
In this environment, expecting the customer to do the work isn’t just bad practice—it’s a growth killer.
Why Marketers Default to Discounts
It’s worth asking: why do so many brands default to price promotions?
- It’s quick. Discounts deliver a short-term bump in bookings.
- It’s easy. Building real brand differentiation is hard; cutting price is simple.
- It’s addictive. Once customers expect deals, not offering them feels like a risk.
But this cycle is corrosive. It undermines long-term brand equity, weakens profitability, and conditions travelers to view your product as interchangeable with any competitor offering the next deal.
A Better Path: Do the Work for the Customer
The opportunity is not to push harder but to remove obstacles and add clarity. Travelers don’t want to be forced to decode your brand—they want you to do the heavy lifting. That requires a shift in mindset:
- Clarity over complexity. Make pricing transparent. Eliminate hidden fees. Present options in a way that helps the traveler quickly understand what they’re getting and why it matters.
- Guidance over gimmicks. Provide content that reduces uncertainty: real itineraries, sample experiences, FAQs answered upfront, authentic traveler stories. Position yourself as a trusted advisor, not a peddler of promotions.
- Value before volume. Lead with the richness of the experience, the unique benefits, and the emotional rewards of travel. Price and urgency can support this story—but never replace it.
- Support, don’t burden. Make service accessible. Don’t force travelers to dig through FAQs or bots that frustrate. Show up with human help, whether that’s live chat, a call-back option, or curated content that anticipates their needs.
The Intrinsic Value Equation
In my book Hard Ships, I introduced the concept of the Intrinsic Value Equation—a simple but powerful way of thinking about how customers evaluate your offering.
Travelers weigh what they pay—in time, money, energy, and effort—against what they perceive they get in return—clarity, confidence, enjoyment, trust, and memorable experiences.
When the equation feels unbalanced—when the effort is too high, the risk too uncertain, or the value too thin—the traveler abandons. When it’s aligned—when clarity, support, and inspiration outweigh cost—travelers engage, book, and return.
Too many travel marketers focus only on the denominator—price—while neglecting the numerator: everything that increases intrinsic value. That’s why the reflex is discounting, rather than enriching.
Elevating Value Beyond Price
Applying the Intrinsic Value Equation reframes the marketer’s role:
- Reduce the traveler’s effort. Every time you make them search, figure out your pricing, or self-navigate your systems, you’re adding “cost” to the equation.
- Increase clarity and confidence. Transparency, authenticity, and guidance all lift perceived value.
- Connect emotionally. Value isn’t just features—it’s the feeling of being cared for, understood, and inspired.
- Price supports, it doesn’t lead. Once intrinsic value is clear and compelling, price becomes a rational confirmation, not the central reason to buy.
Travel is never just a transaction. It’s a trade of effort and resources for meaning, memory, and trust. The brands that tip this equation in the traveler’s favor—by doing the work for them—are the ones that win loyalty, margin, and long-term growth.
Case in Point
Consider the difference between two approaches:
- A cruise line that floods inboxes with “Book Now & Save 40%!” without ever explaining why its itineraries or onboard experience are different.
- Versus a brand that leads with “Experience Alaska Like an Insider”—featuring a clear itinerary, vivid video, transparent pricing, and easy booking support—then adds a limited-time incentive.
The first approach treats customers as a conversion number. The second treats them as partners in an experience worth investing in. Guess which one builds loyalty and pricing power over time?
The Call to Marketers
Travel marketing has always been about more than selling seats, rooms, or cabins. It’s about selling experiences, memories, and meaning. When you force customers to do all the work, you rob them of the very sense of care and anticipation that should define their journey.
The brands that win won’t be those shouting the loudest about discounts. They’ll be those that make the traveler feel seen, supported, and guided from the very first click.
It’s time to flip the script: stop expecting your customer to do the work. Do it for them. Build clarity, deliver guidance, highlight value, and make service seamless. Price promotions should be the final accelerant to an already compelling story—not the only story you have to tell.
Bottom Line
The travel customer is telling us exactly what they want: “Make it easy for me. Make it clear. Show me why it’s worth it.” The question is—are we listening? Onward!