Radio Outperforms TV For Travel Brands.

According to MediaRadar, of the travel industry’s $4 billion ad spend in 2025, just 4% went to AM/FM radio and even less to podcasts, vs. 18% to spot TV, cable and broadcast network TV. 

Big mistake, says Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard in Westwood One’s blog, citing research showing that “audio should represent a much greater proportion of the travel intenders media plan.”

A comparison of audio media to TV from MRI-Simmons makes the case for both radio and podcasts vs. TV, as the profile of those planning to travel in the next 12 months — in terms of median age, employment, income, household size and presence of children — more closely matches that of heavy AM/FM radio and heavy podcast listeners than it does heavy TV watchers.

According to MRI-Simmons, 62% of travel intenders are age 18-54, which works in radio’s favor based on a Nielsen report showing AM/FM’s reach of 18-49s is 84% vs. linear TV’s 52%. “A dollar spent on linear TV will see only 17 cents impacting 18–49s,” Bouvard says. “Linear TV is reach-challenged against the key 18-49 travel demographic.”

Radio listeners saying they plan to travel in the next 12 months are plentiful on multiple formats. Nearly 80% of listeners to Hispanic, news/talk, alternative, soft AC, urban, rock, AC or CHR stations fall in that category, as do more than 70% of listeners to seven other major formats.

On the podcast side, more than 80% listening to podcasts dealing with sports, business/finance, entertainment/pop culture, arts/culture, health/fitness/lifestyle, kids/family, technology, and romance and relationships also plan on traveling in the next 12 months.

There’s an especially strong link between intended travel and the sports radio format. MRI-Simmons’ data shows that compared to the average adult, those listeners are far more likely to frequent major hotel chains like Marriott, Omni, Crowne Plaza and Hilton, and to fly major airlines like JetBlue, Alaska, United and Southwest. They also index higher when it comes to booking cruise lines, including Disney, Norwegian, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

Add to the above two case studies conducted by Westwood One, where two hotel chains saw brand equity boosts among listeners exposed to ads during Westwood One’s Summer Olympics updates or its NCAA college football coverage. In the former case, a flagship chain saw ad recall and familiarity up 80%, while in the latter, listeners exposed to a mid-range hotel chain’s spots had a 50% greater familiarity with the brand, a 32% increase in brand familiarity, and a 34% growth in brand consideration.

The major takeaway? “AM/FM radio and podcasts [are] especially good at reaching travel intenders,” Bouvard says. “[For advertisers] an investment in sports shows significant lift in brand equity.”