From Voucher Codes to AI Overviews: How Away Resorts Reframed Affiliate Marketing

What happens when you’re handed the affiliate channel on your very first day in a new role? For Safaa Elbouchikhi, Digital Marketing Executive at Away Resorts, it was the ultimate crash course in affiliate marketing, and the chance to turn a voucher-heavy programme into a smarter, full-funnel strategy.

In this episode of Affiliate Marketing Diaries, Safaa shares her journey from seeing affiliates as “just discount codes” to leading a channel that now balances voucher partners, closed user groups, and content publishers. She discusses bold decisions like pausing all voucher activity during peak season, rolling out Uniqodo to tackle code leakage, and championing tenancy payments for top-of-funnel affiliates who build trust and influence customer journeys.

We also explore how Away Resorts is preparing for Google’s AI Overview by investing in content-driven partnerships that future-proof visibility in travel search. Plus, Safaa offers practical tips for in-house marketers on proving incrementality, winning stakeholder support, and getting the best out of agency partners by asking the right questions and letting specialists do their thing.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why affiliate marketing is more than last-click discounts
• How to measure incrementality and prove value
• The impact of bold tests like switching off vouchers
• Why Uniqodo was a turning point for Away Resorts
• Preparing affiliate strategies for AI-driven search

💬 Quote from the episode:

“You can’t just rely on the last click, content publishers might not drive instant sales, but they build trust and influence bookings down the line.” – Safaa Elbouchikhi

🔗 Links and references:

• Away Resorts: https://www.awayresorts.co.uk
• Navigate Digital: https://www.navigatedigital.com
• Safaa Elbouchikhi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/safaa-elbouchikhi-24336b182/
• Uniqodo: https://www.uniqodo.com

Affiliate Marketing Diaries is brought to you by Navigate Digital – the UK's specialist affiliate marketing agency.

In each episode, we sit down with the people behind the programs – marketers, publishers, tech providers and network leads – to uncover how affiliate marketing really works from the inside out.

You’ll hear honest reflections, smart strategies, and practical lessons from the frontlines of performance marketing – what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what’s coming next.

For show notes, transcripts, and all previous episodes, visit navigatedigital.com/podcast.

Found something useful in this episode? Let us know – or better yet, share it with someone navigating the same challenges. And if you’d like help launching or growing your affiliate programme, get in touch.

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