How an earlier presence at the orientation stage led to 142% more bookings
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Happy Cycling Holidays organizes fully organized cycling vacations throughout Europe. From routes and accommodations to luggage transport: everything is taken care of, so that travelers only have to worry about what to order on the terrace after the bike ride. That formula proved successful and formed the basis for further growth.
De cijfers van Happy Cycling Holidays
(jan-apr 2025 vs. 2026)
Untapped growth potential within international markets
Happy Cycling Holidays, when we acquired it, was operating two international campaigns. A German-language campaign for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, among others, and an English-language campaign for other international markets. The challenge was to continue to grow bookings and revenue within both campaigns without increasing cost per booking or decreasing ROAS.
In addition, Happy Cycling Holidays wanted to better leverage the growth potential of its new website, which went live in April 2024, within these international markets. Our analysis showed that potential travelers often research their cycling vacation months in advance, while advertising investment historically only scaled up later in the season. As a result, a significant portion of international demand was not being reached. Precisely during the crucial orientation phase of the customer journey, therefore, valuable potential remained untapped.
Grow by being present earlier in the customer journey
In order to become visible earlier during the orientation phase of the customer journey, we first investigated at which moments potential travelers orient themselves and how Happy Cycling Holidays could better respond to this. From SEA, SEO, tracking and CRO we looked at how campaigns, website and budget distribution could be better aligned.
Based on historical data and customer behavior, we examined how international demand developed during the season. In doing so, we saw that on average there is about 11 days between the first ad interaction and a booking. Therefore, we switched from scaling based on actual demand to proactively managing based on expected demand and search volume.
We therefore began scaling up campaigns as early as November. In addition, search campaigns were expanded with new keywords and ad groups, while budgets were distributed more intelligently based on seasonal patterns. In parallel, we worked on a scalable SEO structure with country pages and content for local search intent, while further expanding the travel offering with new itineraries and destinations.
International growth in figures
The revamped approach allowed Happy Cycling Holidays to reach more international travelers. This resulted in strong growth in bookings and revenue, while improving returns at the same time.
SEA results
In the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025 resulted in:
- +207% growth in sales through online channels
- +142% growth in bookings through online channels
- +16% increase in ROAS
SEO results
Organic visibility also grew strongly within international markets. Between June 2025 and May 2026, this resulted in:
- A growth from 42 to 105 keywords in positions 1-20 within the English-speaking market (+150%)
- A growth from 19 to 71 keywords in positions 1-20 within Germany (+274%)
The experience of the specialist
"The cooperation with Happy Cycling Holidays is like a nice bike ride: we have a common destination, keep adjusting along the way and celebrate the results we achieved together. Together with Nadine and Rosalie, we continuously look at where improvements can be made and build on what works well. That has led to great results for Happy Cycling Holidays."
Milou - Tomahawk
Customer experience
"What we really appreciate about the cooperation with Tomahawk is that you not only manage campaigns, but really think along with us about how we can grow Happy Cycling Holidays internationally. Especially for the German market, we were looking for a party that understands the language, culture and target group. We really found that combination of substantive knowledge, fast communication and being able to spar about strategy in the cooperation."
Rosalie - Happy Cycling Holidays
