Emirates has won Gold in the inaugural Best Travel, Leisure & Experience Campaign category at the 2026 Global Performance Marketing Awards, following a major transformation of its affiliate marketing programme across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
The recognition marks the airline as the first-ever winner in the category, highlighting its data-driven approach to performance marketing in one of the world’s most competitive travel markets, where airlines, online travel agencies and travel agents compete for the same affiliate partners.
Emirates secured the award after restructuring its affiliate marketing strategy, moving away from a broad-volume publisher model towards a more targeted network of high-performing partners. The initiative focused on strengthening direct relationships, improving investment efficiency and expanding into new affiliate partner categories.
The strategy delivered measurable commercial results, with the airline recording a 31 per cent increase in revenue from performance marketing in APAC within a single year.
For Emirates, performance marketing has evolved beyond a conventional promotional channel into a key driver of customer acquisition and business growth. Its specialist team combines digital marketing expertise with advanced analytics, attribution models, customer insights and first-party data to improve revenue generation, booking quality and long-term customer value.
Boutros Boutros, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand for Emirates Group, said the award reflected the team’s commitment to delivering measurable value for customers and the business.
He noted that performance marketing remained a fundamental commercial growth driver for the airline, with its data-led strategy, automation and disciplined execution helping to improve both booking quality and revenue outcomes in the APAC market.
The airline’s performance marketing operations are managed by a core team in Dubai covering affiliate marketing, paid search and metasearch, supported by more than 60 digital marketing colleagues and hundreds of partners worldwide. Together, these channels account for more than a third of new customers acquired through emirates.com.
The team also oversees the strategy and execution of more than 5,000 always-on campaigns across search engines, flight comparison platforms and affiliate marketing networks. Insights generated through its global partnerships guide investment decisions supporting more than 4,000 routes across 80 markets.
Emirates attributes its ability to manage campaigns at this scale to extensive automation, structured operating processes and specialist oversight across each marketing discipline. Exclusive partnerships also allow the airline to introduce advertising solutions designed to strengthen its competitive position in the digital travel market.
The Global Performance Marketing Awards recognise campaigns that deliver measurable results across performance and partnership marketing. Entries are assessed by independent industry judges drawn from brands, agencies and publishers, with consideration given to strategic direction, execution, collaboration and commercial impact.
The latest accolade adds to Emirates’ recognition in the digital marketing space, following its shortlisting at the Global Search Awards in the Best Use of Search (Travel/Leisure) category.
