The market comprising millennials is requiring the focus of the travel and tourism sector. Since this target has a completely different way of looking at travel, meeting their expectations can undoubtedly become a challenging task. It is fairly important for the travel industry and its players to primarily understand their needs and develop a wide variety of product offerings in order to address, and hopefully satisfy these customers. After all, they are not afraid to leave honest reviews.
While some of the usual requirements stay the same such as being fun and frolic, millennials also require their travel adventures to give them an opportunity to fulfil their sense of civic responsibility; an adventure that could, for example, enable them to help preserve nature and the environment would be at the top of the list.
In this particular market, the travel industry must be able to direct its focus to content. Offering detailed descriptions and pictures of what’s in store when going to a specific destination will definitely catch their attention. Millennials also have a keen sense of personalised travel itineraries and are not actually in tune with the normal “tourist” routes. Travel industry players should be aware of the fact that “content is king” for millennials, therefore providing them relevant information on a destination and the ability to get a hold of unique activities is what will make you valuable enough to be considered.
But this is not the only thing that makes millennials find you interesting and worth their time. Here are a few important factors that should be on top of your priorities list when wanting to attract these unique visitors:
1. Contribution to preserving the environment (eco-friendly)
“Going green” is a very popular trend among the hospitality industry as a whole. It has also become one of the most important aspects that millennials lookout for when looking for accommodations, activities, restaurants on their travel destinations. Green Certification would be a big plus for travel businesses and it can help with increasing customer loyalty. However, simple details such as paper straws on a restaurant or a hotel with reusable energy can be enough to please them.
2. Health conscious meals
Millennials are a generation of health-conscious individuals who value convenience on their preferred meal sets. Travel players who offer such kind of food alternatives as well as nearby grab and go marketplaces or pickup points would have an advantage. Moreover, diets such as vegetarian, vegan or sugar-free are common among this group and will be a decisive factor when choosing a place to stay or eat. Therefore, although convenience is key, it won’t make a difference unless you are serving the right food.
3. Introduce mobile versions
Society nowadays has increasingly become more mobile than ever. It is extremely essential for travel industry players to introduce mobile versions of the soonest possible time. Each year, more and more people have been using their mobile devices to conduct research for travel destinations and eventually book them on those devices accordingly. It is raising at a fast pace thus travel companies should become omnichannel to cater to the larger market.
In addition, the mobile app is becoming popular to travel accommodations as well. Hotel services can now be managed through mobile apps. As an example, in some hotels like Hilton, it is possible to access rooms using your device as a digital key. The main point here is the convenience and mobility for accessing services almost anywhere – it is a type of solution millennials are looking for and should be one important component of the overall offer of companies nowadays.
4. Wider payment methods/options
Currently, there are many payment methods being offered and this kind of variety is what millennials aim for. Wider reach is also important thus partnering with other payment systems would be a plus. There is an instance wherein one individual backed off on a transaction for a travel itinerary simply because it does not offer the kind of payment option they prefer. As simple as that, the preference for a payment method is key to get to a wider market.
With so many demands, millennials are making travel industry players companies work ten times harder to get their attention. However, it is not a surprise that, as time goes by, supplying customers with exactly what they want or, better yet, anticipating their needs will become a bigger challenge. Understanding their habits and the trends they follow is a great way to try and stay ahead of the curve, but the current growth in innovation that the industry presents may be an obstacle on the way. Nonetheless, as a first move, businesses should focus their attention on what is it known and demanded by this target now, and only after catering to these – considered basic – needs will they be able to move to the next level on impressing this target.
