NEW YORK — Millennials crave personalization and
customization in their travels, and travel agents could be the answer they’re
looking for, according to the panelists at the first American Express Travel
Salon Series.
The event on Tuesday was called “#NoFilter: Millennial
Perception vs. Reality.”
Claire Bennett, executive vice president and general manager
of American Express Travel, moderated a panel of millennials ranging from
fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff to Sedisha Matthias, operations manager for
Travel Noire, a digital publishing platform creating tools and resources for
travelers.
The panel was rounded out by Grant Legan, a photographer and
founder of travel brand and production agency Elsewhere; Sarah Osman, a brand
strategist at Tumblr; Tom Harding, director of immersive products and virtual
reality at Samsung Electronics America; and Will Farnan, a client partner at
Facebook, where he manages partnerships with hotel and airline suppliers.
One of the myths they tackled was that millennials do not
use travel agents. Bennett, citing data from American Express Travel’s Future
of Travel Study and American Express Spending and Saving Tracker, said
millennials reported a high level of satisfaction with agents. Ninety-two
percent said using agents enhances travel experiences, she said.
Matthias said ASTA research shows a general increase in the
number of people using agents over the past few years driven largely by
millennials, so “there’s a bit of a shift there.”
Claire Bennett, executive vice president and general manager of American Express Travel. Photo Credit: Jamie Biesiada
Agents can save millennials time, something many feel they
lack, she said. They can also tap into millennials’ desire for curated,
personalized travel.
“That’s what a millennial is seeking, something that is very
specific to what they want,” Matthias said. She predicted a continued increase
of the number of millennials using agents.
Farnan said millennials are a generation “obsessed” with using
their mobile phones, and spend the majority of time on their phones inside
mobile applications.
Agents can provide a touch travel apps cannot “to get to
know the consumer better in a one-to-one way and read all the nuances of the
conversation so that you can refine the information that you’re going to
present,” he said.
Legan suggested agents build in free time to their clients’
travel that they can use to go out and find the local experiences they crave
based off their interests.
That is a practice Travel Noire already employs, Matthias
said, calling it light curation — giving clients free time to discover, but
with certain recommendations of things to do and see.
The panel agreed that customization is one of the things
millennials crave most and they are willing to trade personal details, likes
and interests for it.
“I think they’re willing to give as much information as
possible to be able to have a really wonderful, curated experience,” Matthias
said.