Summer is here and with that comes traveling. The first thing that seems to have opened the door to traveling abroad is sport. Not business trips or family vacations just yet, but events like UEFA EURO 2020, the Champions League final, or even the Olympic Games in Tokyo. With that comes opportunity, the opportunity for affiliate marketers to get back to promoting the travel niche. Just in time when everyone’s dreaming of booking that getaway trip!

Read this guide to learn how affiliate marketers can make money running travel niche campaigns during the most important summer sports events of 2021! [post-COVID look]

Can Affiliate Marketers Make Money With The Travel Vertical In 2022?

In a word, yes! We all know that the last couple of years have been slow for travel and the first half of this year has been too. But… 2022 is starting to look promising for travel offers. Google Trends has shown that more and more searches are taking place containing travel-related keywords. For example Skyscanner, Booking.com, and cheap flights, as you can see in the example below.

It’s not a small opportunity either, Statista says that the travel and tourism industry directly contributed US$2.9trillion to GDP in 2019. Although we are not saying that the world is 100% back to normal, large areas of the globe are still living with some kind of restrictions or other things, including travel.

The rise in of travel offers for sports events

Having said that, there have been more and more large sporting events that require their fans’ attendance. That’s why some restrictions are being lifted to allow spectators to watch their favorite team abroad. The success of major championship finals like the Europa League or Champions League held in Gdansk, Poland, and Porto, Portugal respectively.

According to A.T. Kearney, the sports events industry is estimated to be worth up to $620 billion, much of that being from football/soccer. So, pay attention to events like UEFA EURO 2020 or CONMEBOL Copa América which have already kicked off. That means this is the time to advertise your travel offers to these sports fans now.

The travel industry is really picking back up. This is the sign you need to dust off your travel offers, bust out your spy tools and check out which affiliate networks are offering travel offers.

You don’t want to be late to the party, the airport or the sports field this summer.

Which sports events should affiliates focus on for the travel niche?

As you can see from the infographic below, the summer of sports is really starting to kick off. And where there are sporting events, there are opportunities to make money. And we are not just talking about sports betting, although that is always a good idea.

We are just excited as you are for the summer of champions, and this list really has something for everyone. Take the Tour de France, for example, this is a perfect opportunity to find E-commerce offers for new bikes to promote to the fans watching the races on streaming sites. If you are into soccer then you can make affiliate marketing campaigns promoting nearly all of the verticals. It’s just how you spin it.

And you can take all you learn in this article and apply it to when each of these events is taking place, as we know each one needs to be thought of individually. But by reading on, you will have the general formula you need to apply to each scenario.

Sports Events Calendar

Have a look at the Sports Events Calendar below, which has all the key dates for when spectators might want travel offers to be promoted to them. And which countries the games are held in, so you can bet that your travel offers will go down well there too.

But don’t forget that audiences will still likely be global, as the sporting events we are covering are some of the most famous in the world. That means fans from all over will be streaming, placing bets, downloading, or purchasing products related to the games. So, keep that in mind when you are choosing your targeting strategy.

The Best GEOs for Travel Niche During the Summer of Sports

Some of you might be thinking, I know that travel is back on the menu but which countries have no travel restrictions? 

Fear not, all will be revealed.

So, let us be your guide and show you which GEOs might be viable for your campaigns.

Tier 1

Whether you are making money with sports betting, or travel, the same GEOs are a safe bet. CA, AU, the US, and some European countries, for example, UK, FR, IT, and DE are a good place to start for your campaigns.

European countries like the ones mentioned have attempted to boost travel this summer with the introduction of an EU Digital COVID Certificate. So, travel offers targeted at European countries are likely to be effective.

Remember that these GEOs are not recommended for beginners, as the traffic is typically more expensive so your budget won’t go as far. But if you’re an experienced affiliate marketer, there is a big opportunity to earn commission with travel, during the summer with these sports events.

Tier 2

Second-tier countries include ZA, PL, MY, RU, and JP. These countries will be a safe bet for travel or sports betting during these events.

However, Japan will not have spectators from other countries attending the Olympics or Paralympics, to limit the transmission of coronavirus. This will mean that the travel offers promoting the country won’t be as successful as if the games were operating as normal.

So, you might be better off sticking to sports betting for this specific GEO during this time.

Tier 3

Both experienced and beginner affiliate marketers should look to tier 3 countries for their travel campaigns as well as sports betting this summer. For tier 3, we look to the Asian Pacific region and countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Both the APAC region and the African countries of the EMEA sector are holding a big potential of becoming large and very attractive markets for the sports betting vertical.

While these nations remain popular for sports betting according to Forbes many of them are open to tourists from the US and Europe as they rely heavily on tourism for their economy.

Forbes suggests that Kenya, Egypt, Mexico, and others are worth visiting while other countries are more restrictive during the pandemic.

We would recommend that you target tier 3 for travel as it has been a growth industry in this area and while they are not hosting the majority of the sports events mentioned, people may be traveling there on vacation again now.

So, we have given you a head start in the research stage. Can you make it to the finish line and score a conversion?

The best affiliate programs and networks for sports betting and travel

Many of you will be searching using phrases like ‘Which travel affiliate programs & networks should you choose?’

So, to take advantage of this boom in travel you’ll want some recommendations on which affiliate programs and networks to have a look at, right?

However you make money with affiliate marketing, whether you’ve got a blog, website, or social media following based around travel, affiliate programs could be the thing for you. That’s not to say affiliate networks won’t be useful to you too, they can help you find offers for your audience, too. It’s about whether you want to bond with a particular brand or want to promote more varied offers.

Whichever you choose, paid advertising can boost your results and allow you to make passive income with your travel campaigns.

Have a look at the lists of the best travel affiliate programs and networks and see which works best for you.

Travel affiliate programs

✈️ Tripadvisor

✈️ Skyscanner

✈️ Booking.com

✈️ Kayak

✈️ World Nomads

✈️ Viator

Affiliate networks providing travel offers

✈️ Travelpayouts – The only travel-specific affiliate network

✈️ ClickDealer global marketing agency

✈️ CJ Affiliate

✈️ ShareASale

✈️ MaxBounty

✈️ Awin

✈️ MyLead

If you are looking for travel offers, and exclusive deals on affiliate networks like extra bonuses then you should head over to the Zeropark Offer Wall.

Want to learn more about travel affiliate programs or affiliate networks?

Zeropark Deals

If you have a Zeropark account then we have a bonus for you! There is a place you can go that has the affiliate marketing industry’s best networks, advertisers, affiliate programs, top offers, and tools such as trackers, landing page builders, and spy tools. The bonus is that each one of them has an exclusive bonus just for being a Zeropark customer.

If you’re looking to make some extra profit this is the place for you. It’s the Deals tab, which can be found in your account dashboard. We update it regularly so remember to come back and check if there is a new deal for you as we have just added some new partners. Head to the Offer Wall under the Deals tab to see what’s waiting for you.

Examples of ad copy and creatives that convert

We know that creatives are most important for running push campaigns. The right ones can save or burn your campaigns.

What you need for creatives and copy that converts are the same things for your pop, domain redirect, or push campaigns. These examples can be tweaked and adapted to fit your needs whether it’s for a travel campaign or a sports betting one.

Take a look at the list below to get a taste of what your ads could be missing.

• FOMO is a great motivator – The fear of missing out! Tell the audience other people have already purchased recently.
• Keep the keywords relevant – Pick your sports event and do your research.
• Show them your best visuals – For travel a sandy beach for sports betting some green winnings will do the trick.
• Tell them they deserve it – Everyone wants to treat themselves occasionally and what better way than a trip away, if it’s to watch the big game even better!
• Keep it simple – Clear short copy works the best for getting your message across quickly.
• How much time is left on the clock? If you want to score before the games end you’ve got to motivate people with a sense of urgency.

Here are some examples of how each of these can be applied to real affiliate marketing campaigns to boost conversions.

Travel push ads example:

As you can see in these push ads the copy has plenty of examples of FOMO, related keywords, and imagery all relating to both travel and sports. Take this example and apply it to your ads and see if you can get more conversions with the sports events this summer.

Conclusions

This guide should help you in remembering how to make money with the travel vertical. We know it’s been a while but it’s back and we hope it’s here to stay.

The important things you need to focus on with your travel and sports events campaigns are the same as with your other campaigns. Research, apply your knowledge, test, run the campaign and optimize. This is your formula to success.

Remember to look out for particular GEOs around the dates of the sports events to get the best results for those countries hosting them and those sending fans and double-check for travel restrictions.

Travel Is Back With Sports Events
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