Richard Turen
I wouldn't want to seem presumptuous, but may I call for a moratorium on media reports about what millennials will or will not do. Silence, please.
Millennials will not determine anything major about my business in my lifetime. The only thing a millennial can do for me is deliver my business card to a mature traveler.
If a millennial should happen to be fortunate enough to be accepted as a client of mine, it would be necessary for her to agree to put down her smartphone long enough to actually look both ways before she crossed the Champs-Elysees. She would also have to agree not to text me from her honeymoon bed, something millennials have done to me more than once.
Truth be told, I am working on an article about millennials and their curious preferences and rejection of all that their parents hold sacred. But my M file keeps getting thicker, and I keep putting it off. I promise to abide by my own moratorium as long as I am able. We all eventually succumb to describing their trust in all the wrong sources and their ability to act as though they have done things literally that they have only done virtually.
The Virtuoso Consortium, of which I am a member, recently issued a comprehensive "Generational Travel Study" analyzing six years of member purchases totaling $35 billion. Here are some observations and my own interpretation of some conclusions of this important study:
The highest spending generation (in aggregate) is matures (ages 69 to 89). They spend the most, they travel the most, they have the highest levels of loyalty and they are most likely to repeat a purchase. Any questions?
Matures could care less about school schedules, and they love cruising. January is when they love to cruise most, but they will travel almost any time of the year. Many matures are on the golf course with an occasional break to sip an Arnold Palmer in the clubhouse. That is where we need to be to tap into their business.
But a surprising number reside in retirement communities, halfway houses between the old folks' home and the golf club. Golf is a dying sport in America but not in this age group. Don't trade in your travel cleats yet for a skateboard.
Honesty is big with matures, and they are constantly searching for that trait in people. They've heard most of your pitch before, and they have little patience for it. They want a travel professional who will tell them why they should not do a trip, someone who genuinely cares more about their welfare than about a sale.
Gen Ys consume most of their media online and via mobile. Gen Ys, as the baby boomers drop off, are the largest cohort with the largest amount of money -- despite the fact that half of them are unemployed. —Shane Smith
Boomers (ages 50 to 68) are actually wealthier than matures and spend more per trip. What we know about them is that travel is a high priority and that as they plan for retirement, they are allocating additional savings for an increase in spending when they reach the age of 65.
Agents compete for attention among the members of this generation, since 84% have booked travel online, about 74% with OTAs. Boomers' travel needs are much more diverse than those of matures. Three out of four are identifying noncruise forms of travel as their preference, including customized FITs.
This is the generational battlefield where the future of online vs. personalized travel planning will be fought. The boomers, it seems to me, can go either way, and they are open to examining new business models that mirror the kinds of associations they currently enjoy with their physician, financial planner and divorce attorney.
This is a really challenging generation in that they are both work-engaged and retired. At the very least, the work-engaged are transitioning to retirement. This is the generation where, I believe, the idea of a long-term travel bucket list has the greatest potential.
As boomers slow down and approach the mature category, they still cherish their independence, so a combination of tour or cruise with personalized components has great value. Boomers always want to feel that they are still in charge and, like the Starbucks menu, they like to be offered options. They want to add the cream to their coffee themselves.
For the highest average spend per day, we have to look at the Gen Xers (ages 33 to 49), who spend $627 per day, about $150 more than matures. Gen Xers like to stick fairly close to home, and they plan their travel lives based on school schedules.
This generation emerged on the scene just about the time that travel price shopping took form on the Internet. Eighty-two percent of them say they book travel online, and almost three-fourths use OTAs. They like the Caribbean and Mexico, and they are ripe for an introduction to the joys of visiting North America's "attic."
Gen Xers are tethered to something referred to as "Generation Z," their kids. Travel decisions and dates are increasingly seen as family decisions, and travel advisers would do well to point out advantages of a specific itinerary to the younger members of the family.
Many travel advisers will find Gen Xers to be the most frustrating generation because they are the least loyal. They have been raised to enjoy aspects of "hunt for the best value" and add-on amenities, and value-added features are extremely important to this group. They are least likely to recommend your services, but they are highly likely to talk about the "deal" you managed to secure on their behalf.
All of which brings us to the millennials (ages 22 to 32), the generation worthy of your time and effort if you are terminally bored and are seeking deep-seated psychological challenges in your business.
The Virtuoso generational study found that nine out of 10 millennials book their travel online, and 87% use OTAs for both product research and "rate comparisons." To a millennial travel purchaser, the first price they see is a mere reference point as they begin an intellectual journey to prove they can discover something better. This is, of course, a challenge for the travel seller, but I have to admire a bit of the cynicism and sense of self-confidence inherent in the way the millennials love to do it themselves.
When they make their plans online, the study finds, their daily spend is 62% lower than that of matures. That would seem to raise the question, "Then why bother with them?" The Gen Xers and the matures are out looking for people like us, so why waste our time devoting our energies to members of the tribe who believe that the universal travel truths are in their very hands?
Millennials are tougher to win over, but when you do, when they use a consultant for their travel planning, their daily spend differential drops from 67% to 24% when compared with matures. There's also this: You've likely seen several articles of late about the growing presence of millennials in the work ranks of some of our most respected agency groups. And it turns out that what these millennials have been telling us is actually borne out by the data: Of all the groups, once won over, millennials are the most loyal customers.
Yes, millennials are a lot of work, but they share a general set of values that will help any agency tap into their thinking and get rewarded with their loyalty. They take shorter vacations, and they like to stay in North America for ease of travel. Yet, paradoxically, they favor FITs and one-of-a-kind experiences. They also need a patiently presented understanding of why a travel agent has more accumulated knowledge than the plastic chip container in their pocket. Good luck with that one.