Facebook Ads Cost Per App Install Benchmarks for Recreation and Travel

Introduction

Recreation and Travel app install costs moved on a very different rhythm than the wider market this past year. While the global, all‑industry benchmark stayed elevated through mid‑year, Recreation and Travel across all countries fell sharply into early summer, then whipsawed higher in late Q3 before settling back near where it began. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Recreation and Travel across all countries compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Cost per app install (CPAI) for Recreation and Travel started at $9.91 in December 2024 and ended at $9.86 in October 2025—essentially flat over the period (−0.5%), but anything but steady in between. The category averaged $9.96, ranging from a low of $1.46 in June to a high of $26.13 in September.

The first half of 2025 trended down: $8.21 in January, $7.28 in March, $6.05 in May, and then a deep trough in June at $1.46 (an 85% drop from December). From there, the series snapped back: more than sixfold higher into July ($10.93), a slight ease in August ($9.85), and then a late‑Q3 surge to the annual high in September ($26.13) before normalizing in October ($9.86). Across the observed steps, average month‑to‑month movement was large at about $6.44, underscoring a choppy cost environment.

By comparison, the global all‑industry benchmark averaged $16.06 across the same months, with its own high in June ($27.90) and low in January ($7.22). The Recreation and Travel series showed a wider relative range, given its much lower average; its trough‑to‑peak spread ($24.67) nearly matched the global spread ($20.68) at a lower cost base.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

The category softened from winter into early summer, bottoming in June. Instead of stabilizing gradually, costs rebounded sharply in July, dipped slightly in August, and then spiked in September before easing in October. The late‑Q3 peak stands out as the most intense month, while June was an unusually soft period for app installs in this category. In a typical seasonal cadence where Q4 can tighten competition and Q1 can be softer, Recreation and Travel’s 2025 path displaced the pressure: the steepest compression came mid‑year, with the most pronounced lift just ahead of Q4.

Country vs. Global

Recreation and Travel across all countries ran materially below the global Facebook Ads benchmarks most months—averaging about 38% cheaper than the all‑industry baseline ($9.96 vs. $16.06). The category dipped far below market in June (−95% vs. global), stayed well under in May (−50%), August (−51%), and October (−52%), and was modestly under in March (−21%), December (−21%), and July (−11%). It exceeded the global benchmark twice: January (+14%) and September (+15%). On volatility, absolute swings were similar to the market, but relative to its lower average, Recreation and Travel was more volatile (≈0.65 of its mean vs. ≈0.42 for the global benchmark).

Closing

Overall, Facebook Ads cost per app install benchmarks for Recreation and Travel across all countries show a year defined by a mid‑year trough, a sharp late‑Q3 spike, and an end point near the starting mark—consistently below the global all‑industry baseline except for brief January and September lifts. Understanding app install CPA trends for the Recreation and Travel industry across all countries helps marketers gauge category‑level pricing dynamics against global patterns.