Felicity Long
Be honest. Are you tired of hearing about Millennials? Where they travel, what their spending habits are and -- most of all -- how obsessed they are with social media?
I admit that, although I have a lot of Millennials in my life that I enjoy professionally and personally, for a while now I’ve been quietly waiting for the next trend to come along.
For those of you with similar thoughts: Don’t hold your breath.
According to presenters at the recent TMS Family Travel Summit, held at the Hilton Sandestin in South Walton, Fla. -- including statisticians, marketing representatives, tour operators and journalists -- not only are Millennials not going away, the group is still growing since some of its youngest members haven’t turned 18 yet. (The strict definition of Millennials varies, although most say they must have been born by 2000).
And boomers, who have traditionally been sought after for their purported free time and disposable income, are becoming less mobile and relevant in terms of travel as they age.
What does this mean for travel to Europe?
Fortunately, although far-flung destinations like Dubai and Osaka have strong appeal for this group, Millennials also put A-list European destinations like Paris and London squarely on their wish list, according to several of the surveys presented at the summit.
They also gravitate to niche destinations in well-known cities, according to Ed Tapan, head of industry at Google Travel, such as the Marche des Capucins in France’s Bordeaux region and the Koukaki neighborhood in Athens.
And they are more likely than other groups to combine business travel with leisure, Tapan said, coining the made-up word “bleisure” to describe the trend.
Surprisingly, despite the fact that they are wedded to researching travel online, they are more likely to book through a traditional travel agent than any other group, he said, noting that 28% of Millennials surveyed had done so in the last year, vs. only 13% of Boomers.
They respond to advertising more than most of us realized, although, to torture a cliché from the 1960s, the medium is the message. This group would much rather hear about your product on YouTube than in a print ad, for example, and they respond to pitches that make them feel more like explorers than tourists, Tapan said.
Another misconception about Millennials that was dispelled by several presenters is that they are singles or couples traveling without children.
Not so, according to Steve Cohen, vice president of insights at MMGY Global, who shared data from the 26th annual Portrait of American Travelers.
In fact, Millennial travel is driven by Millennial families he said, noting that more than half of the nearly 3,000 survey respondents are couples with children.
Specifically, Millennial families intend to travel more and spend more on vacations than Millennial couples and single Millennials, he said.
In addition, they are more likely to travel internationally then their childless counterparts, Cohen said, including to Europe.
And those children are young, according to Jeffrey Eslinger, senior director, account services for travel research company DKSA, who noted that 62% of Millennials traveling with kids have children under age of 5.
This matters, not only in terms of what destinations will appeal to these families, but it also means that they can whisk their small fry off to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London, for example, without being tied to the school vacation calendar because their children are so young.
As to travel safety -- increasingly a concern in Europe -- Cohen said their research didn’t show a drop-off in travel to France in general, although there was a dip to Paris.
But even in the areas most affected by terrorism, such as Paris and Brussels, any drop off is unlikely to last too long.
“People’s memories are short, so the more time that goes by the more likely they are to go back,” he said.