Destination Traffic Growth
Led Lonely Planet's 2023 traffic rebound through an international-destination strategy, then adapted the operating model through a later AI-search decline.
This is the full curve. In 2023, I led a strategic shift toward international destinations that helped drive a 46% overall website-traffic rebound and 164% destination-session growth. In the following period, AI-driven changes to search contributed to a 20% traffic decline. The job then was to lead a credible response to a lower baseline.
The rebound
Post-pandemic, Lonely Planet had invested heavily in domestic travel content. Our audience, however, came to us for international travel expertise, where the brand had a clearer advantage and domestic competitors were less saturated.
I redirected planning toward international destinations and built a repeatable Toolkit Keyword Framework that matched traveler intents, such as things to do, when to visit, and where to stay, to the content types we could execute well.
The system behind the growth
- Built 269 destination pages with full planning toolkits
- Developed 25 distinct article types, spanning core search needs and brand franchises
- Connected user intent, editorial judgment, and destination planning so the team could make strategic choices consistently
- Used a contributor network and local expertise to make the coverage more specific and useful
Leading through the AI-search decline
When AI changed how travelers found information, more generic SEO output was never going to be the answer. I led the team toward content that was harder to commoditize: local expertise, first-hand recommendations, practical advice, and distinctive travel judgment. We also prioritized content types with stronger commercial intent while maintaining production quality and team focus during a difficult period for digital publishing.
What the curve taught me
Content performance is an operating-system problem. The 2023 rebound came from clear positioning and repeatable planning; the AI-search decline required the same discipline under pressure: reassessing where editorial expertise creates value, reallocating resources, and keeping people aligned when the familiar growth model changes.