How TikTok is helping travel brands capture the value of little-known Q5

The holiday season is a whirlwind for travel brands, with year-end campaigns wrapping up and some of the busiest travel days of the year underway. But amid the seasonal rush, it can be easy for travel advertisers to overlook the crucial opportunity to connect with travelers that is just around the corner. The year may be over, but Q5 is just getting started. 

For travel brands, the weeks following the holidays and moving into the new year represent a unique marketing window. Q5 – defined as weeks 1-5 of the year – is a period of high travel engagement. Inspired by family gatherings and the fresh possibilities of a new year, travelers during this period are dreaming of future trips – and many are turning to TikTok for inspiration.  

With traditional advertising budgets winding down post-Q4, travel marketers have a chance to capture attention and convert travelers during a period of low competition and high intent. By leaning into family-centric and lifestyle-driven content, travel brands can unlock the full potential of this often-overlooked opportunity. Here’s how. 

TikTok: Capturing travel demand in 2025

The travel industry is poised for continued growth in 2025, driven by pent-up travel demand, particularly among young, digitally savvy audiences. According to Phocuswright’s U.S. Consumer Travel Report 2024, 97% of past travelers intend to take a trip within the next 12 months. Most travelers plan to maintain or increase their travel activity in the coming year, with some aiming to expand their budgets, lengthen trips or increase the number of trips they take.

These metrics align with trends seen on TikTok, where users demonstrate a strong appetite for travel. The platform isn’t just a source of inspiration; it’s a planning hub that plays a pivotal role in shaping itineraries. According to a GWI travel survey conducted in 1Q and 3Q 2024, 66% of TikTok users plan to travel internationally and 88% domestically in the next year.

And a recent survey of TikTok users via independent panel AYTM shows they are finding their inspiration on TikTok: 78% its users rank travel content among their top five favorite content categories, and that share is even higher among travelers age 25-44 at 83%. Gen Z and millennials – both key traveler demographics – engage with content on TikTok to find unique travel destinations and experiences. 

Why Q5 is a game-changing opportunity for travel brands

The new year sparks a surge of travel inspiration and content engagement. For travel marketers, Q5 represents an untapped opportunity to capture consumer attention – at a lower cost. 

During Q5, TikTok's highly engaged audience contributes to nearly 5% increase in weekly travel video views, with interest peaking in the second week of January, according to company data. At the same time, due to outdated marketing dynamics, travel CPMs drop below the average for the holiday period. This trend highlights an underutilized opportunity for marketers when traditional advertising budgets are often stagnant following Q4, yielding lower competition at a time when TikTok’s engagement rate is higher, especially for travel content. 

The new year often brings with it a range of plans and resolutions, but none inspire TikTok users more than travel. During Q5, TikTok users intend to travel more than they intend to follow through on other new year’s resolutions such as education and investments, according to a survey of TikTok users in an AYTM panel. And these users aren’t just idly browsing for travel ideas – they are actively planning trips with the intent to book. During the winter holidays (defined as week 51 to week 1 of the following year) users viewing #traveldeals content show a 34% increase in weekly video views, according to TikTok. This engagement shows that users have entered the shopping phase of travel planning and are prepared to book. 

• TikTok’s Smart+ campaigns help brands reach the right travelers 
  Smart+ automates the advertising process across targeting, bidding and creative to optimize performance. Advertisers input assets, budget and targeting goals and Smart+ creates or selects the best creative asset (with the help of TikTok Symphony’s suite of AI tools); chooses the right audience; and puts the ad in front of the right customer at the right time.
  

   

How to make your Q5 campaign a success

TikTok’s users in Q5 are highly engaged and eager to travel, creating a compelling opportunity for travel advertisers. But understanding user trends on TikTok can make your campaign even more effective. Below are three key strategies you can use to better target travelers in Q5 and beyond. 

• Focus on family-centric content 
  The holidays are a peak time for gathering with friends and family – and it’s also a time when future trip plans are hatched. When marketing to travelers during Q5 campaigns, it is particularly impactful to lean in to family-centric content, tapping in to the strong demand for multi-generational trips.  
  
  Notably, when family time is at its highest, travel planning on TikTok surges. Views on the #travel hashtag alone increase by 4% in Q5, indicating that family is a key amplifier of travel. 
  
  Additionally, TikTok users who indicate they value time with family also travel more frequently. U.S. TikTok users who value family time make travel plans at least 2.5 times more frequently than those who do not value family time or are neutral, according to a GWI survey of TikTok users (18+) in 1Q23 through 3Q24.
• TikTok’s Family & Parenting Pulse aligns your brand with family travel
  The TikTok Pulse suite places your ad in-feed immediately following the platform’s most premium content. Family & Parenting Pulse positions your ads next to the top 4% of family-related content to create higher engagement rates and a stronger emotional connection with target audiences.
• Leverage search as a gateway 
  Digital natives increasingly turn to platforms like TikTok when searching for information and inspiration. In 2025, aim to capture users’ attention with short, easy-to-digest content showcasing big trips or spontaneous weekend getaways. TikTok’s search capabilities can drive organic discovery during this peak planning season.
  

  
  In Q5, TikTok data showed that popular destinations and hashtags included El Salvador, Japan, Thailand, Scotland, and places to travel in the US. Other popular themes represented in hashtags include destinations, exploration, aviation, cruises, roadtrips, and summer.
  
  Q5 is a time when TikTok users plan for the year’s big trips – and they are planning ahead. Travelers during this time are planning for trips they want to take throughout the entire year. This trend is evident in overlapping hashtags such as #summer. 

• Need help? TikTok makes it easy to create high-quality videos  
  Symphony Creative Studio is an AI-powered tool designed to make video creation faster, easier and more accessible. With Creative Studio, users can generate a video in minutes with minimal inputs, such as a product listing URL, existing assets and product details. 
• Embrace lifestyle content to reach more prospective travelers 
  When creating content, remember that travelers are multi-faceted individuals with a variety of interests – and TikTok is where many travelers explore those interests. From food to luxury shopping, lifestyle-driven travel content can tap into a wide range of user interests. Understanding which hashtags #travel overlaps with provides insight into users’ mindset and interests. 
  
  Overlapping hashtags also include transport methods such as aviation and cruises, indicating that TikTok users are envisioning big travel purchases during the Q5 period. Consuming travel content related to getting to a destination suggests that these Q5 users are moving beyond the dreaming phase into hands-on travel planning.
  
  Brands can target content based on other verticals of interest to users who are also interested in travel. Hashtags related to food (#food, #foodie), for example, often appear in #travel posts, indicating a strong connection between culinary adventures and travel planning. Similarly, hashtags related to fashion (#fashion, #beauty) regularly overlap #travel posts. Brands can create content that taps into these lifestyle trends while showcasing unique travel experiences.
• Drive bookings with Catalog Ads for travel 
  Catalog Ads is meant to help brands drive bookings directly from TikTok. By using a product catalog and setting up data connections with travel-specific parameters, TikTok can deliver travel ads to high-intent travelers at scale. 

Are you ready for Q5?

Q5 is the season for travel planning, and TikTok is where those journeys begin. In Q5, TikTok users will be actively searching for trip inspiration, engaging with travel content and booking their next big adventures. The question isn’t if you should be there – it’s how fast you can show up.