How trekkers search
A trekker’s research runs for months and moves through predictable stages: “Everest base camp trek”, then “EBC trek cost”, “Annapurna circuit vs base camp”, “Manaslu trek permit”, “best trekking company in Nepal”, and finally an agency’s name with “reviews”. The searcher is almost always outside Nepal, on a desktop in the evening, comparing five or six agencies on price, group size, guide experience and safety. Enquiries come by form, email or WhatsApp; the deposit follows weeks later. The whole account therefore has to target source countries, follow the planning window rather than the trekking season, and measure an enquiry that pays much later. My Google Ads services for trekking agencies are built on those three facts.
What changes in Google Ads for trekking
Source-country targeting
Campaigns are split by the trekker’s country, not by the route’s location: Australia, the UK, the USA, Germany, France and India are the usual starting set, chosen from your own past bookings. Presence targeting keeps out searches from inside Nepal, which are mostly other agencies and guides. Copy uses the trekker’s currency and spelling, and ad schedules run in their evening.
Season and planning window
The autumn season (October to November) is researched and booked from roughly May to August; the spring season (March to May) from November to January. Budgets peak in those planning windows, not when the trails are busy, and remarketing runs through the whole window so the agency stays present while the trekker compares.
Keywords and negatives
Exact and phrase match on route plus intent: route name, duration, cost, itinerary, permit, difficulty, plus “trekking company” and “guide” terms. Informational searches sit in a separate low-budget campaign feeding guide pages. Negatives for “jobs”, “porter job”, “guide license”, “training”, “course”, “volunteer”, “free”, “map download”, “news”, “death”, “accident”, “weather” and the names of routes you do not run.
Assets and landing pages
Price assets in the trekker’s currency, sitelinks to itinerary, dates, inclusions and reviews, image assets of the route, and lead forms asking the intended month. One page per route with the day-by-day itinerary, altitude profile, group size, guide credentials, what is and is not included, fixed departure dates and an enquiry form or WhatsApp button above the fold. Safety, insurance and acclimatization policy matter more to this buyer than photographs; trekkers read them before they write.
Tracking
Enquiry forms, WhatsApp and email clicks and calls above a minimum duration are tracked, with the enquiry as the primary conversion. Deposits recorded in your booking sheet or CRM are imported with value over a window long enough to cover the planning cycle, so bidding learns which routes and countries produce paid treks rather than questions. The setup is under conversion tracking.
Typical account structure
| Campaign | Targeting | Primary conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Agency name in every source country | Enquiry |
| Everest region | Base camp, Gokyo, Three Passes; by source country | Enquiry, then imported deposit |
| Annapurna region | Circuit, base camp, Poon Hill, Mardi | Enquiry, then imported deposit |
| Manaslu and restricted areas | Manaslu, Upper Mustang, Kanchenjunga; permit-led copy | Enquiry |
| Expeditions and peaks | Island Peak, Mera, climbing permits | Enquiry |
| Informational | Cost, permit, difficulty, best time searches | Enquiry from guide pages |
| Remarketing | Itinerary viewers through the planning window | Enquiry |
Agencies selling cultural tours and multi-country itineraries as well should read Google Ads for travel and tourism, which covers the wider tour business.
Mistakes I see in trekking accounts
- Targeting Nepal, so the budget goes to competitors, guides and porters searching the same terms.
- Every route in one campaign, so Everest clicks consume the budget and the Annapurna pages never get tested.
- Spending in October when the people trekking in October decided in June.
- Prices in NPR or USD only, when the buyer is comparing in AUD or GBP.
- Enquiries counted, deposits never fed back, so the account cannot tell a curious student from a booked group.
Full stack for trekking and adventure travel
Paid search reaches trekkers already planning; organic route guides earn the rest of the research phase and cost nothing per click. The same industry is covered under SEO for trekking agencies, Meta Ads for trekking, digital marketing for trekking and travel and marketing automation for hotels and travel.
Next step
Send read-only access for a free Google Ads audit; the summary will show which countries your clicks come from, which routes produce enquiries, and whether the budget matches the planning window rather than the trekking season.