Oh, the places they’ll go! Thanks to our awesome team of knowledgable hotel industry advisers, we’re up to speed on things to know about Millennial travelers.
Spending an estimated $226 billion on travel during 2015, Millennials are the dominant customer segment fueling this explosive growth. They’re outspending previous generations — traveling more, exploring further, taking more time to relax and rejuvenate, and dining out more frequently. And it’s not just the customers who are driving this upward trend: By 2025, Millennials will account for 75% of the travel and hospitality workforce.
We’ve listed below five of “10 Things You Should Know About Millennial Travelers,” from an article recommended by one of TipGenie’s early stage advisers for the the hotel industry, Kelly Ann Gonzales, Regional Group Sales Coordinator at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group:
1. They trust their friends’ recommendations over a travel agent. Millennials are also strongly influenced by online sources such as review sites, blogs and social media. 76% say that friends’ recommendations are top influencers for travel and 80% percent feel travel reviews have a strong influence on their decisions, and 18% consider travel agent advice.
2. They want to fully immerse themselves into new cultures, and feast on local cuisine. Millennials desire authentic, meaningful experiences—preferably ones they can post to social media. They’re the social media “showboating” generation, making sure friends see their adventures as they happen. This preference has helped power the sharing economy, making more than a cottage industry of community sharing travel innovations like Airbnb (accommodations), Uber (transport) and Feastly (food).
3. They use mobile devices and digital platforms for their entire digital journey. Millennials use Smartphones when booking and researching travel, and tablets as a travel devise are sure to rise. 49% of Millennials use smartphones when planning trips and 35% book journeys on them. From research to booking and email confirmations to mobile ticketing – it’s all digital. The Internet of Things continues to transform travel incorporating Internet-enabled functions beyond wi-fi to cardless check-in, tablet in-room services, wearables, and more.
4. They spend more each day on trips than other age groups. Millennials like to be pampered and travel is one big-ticket item that they make work into their budget. Forty percent will spend more on travel in 2016 than in 2015. Only 30% of Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers will increase their travel budgets, despite the fact that they’ll spend more than Millennials overall.
5. They care about amenities and will pay an additional to get the experience they want. Millennials crave different perks than their parents, saying that amenities are important when booking a hotel. Fifty-five percent of Millennials say they won’t book a room from a supplier that doesn’t have Wi-Fi. They’re used to the “pay for more” approach to travel, so they expect to dish it out for more leg room on their flight or the extras at their hotel. Of course they want to save where they can, but value wins over budget.