Please wait while the search results are loading...

What Millennials and Mobile-Savvy Consumers Want as Tourists and Travelers, Business and Industry Trends Analysis

At Plunkett Research, we define the Millennial cohort (Gen Y) as those people born between 1982 and 2002.  (Some organizations use slightly different years.)  This is the largest cohort in U.S. history—larger even than Baby Boomers.  They will rapidly make up an increasingly significant share of hotel, resort and other lodging guests.  Nonetheless, it’s important to remember that Millennial habits and attitudes, such as deep dependence on well-curated social media pages for personal expression, are spilling over into other generations.  “Millennial” may be as much a state of mind (psychographics) as a specific age cohort (demographics).

Millennial Travel Goals and Desires:
1)    Unique, adventuresome, even exotic experiences that they can be proud to post to social media.
2)    Reasonable prices, even bargain vacations.
3)    Modest environmental impact, even eco-friendly hotels and resorts.
4)    Sharing economy experiences, particularly if the sharing strategy saves money or provides an opportunity to gather with their peers.  Airbnb plays well here.  (Sleeping in someone’s spare bedroom is not only inexpensive, it’s a sharing experience to post about.) Even hostels are making a comeback.
5)    Community-based experiences such as local foods and beers, even to the extent of participating in humanitarian or philanthropic projects while on vacation.  The cruise and tour industries are jumping on this “social impact travel” trend—but hotels lag.  Carnival operates a Fathom subsidiary for Millennials and other travelers who want to add volunteerism and authentic cultural experiences to their cruise travel.

     Millennial leisure travelers will look to gain status through posting about experiences that qualify as unique, local or authentic (in the real world).  That is, travel that enables them to express who they are, where they’ve been and how they lead a meaningful and conscious life.  A well-curated Instagram feed may grant more status than owning a new car.  Millennial business travelers will respond to unique hotel offers that enable them to post about unique experiences, foods and beverages.  Hotels that create ways to drive social media postings from satisfied, fully engaged guests will earn a superior ROI on marketing spending.


A Representative List of Organizations that Have Used our Research and Products:

Testimonials

I’m amazed at how much information is available and the various ways to access it. This will be a major resource for our serious job seekers.

Career Services, Penn State University

Plunkett Research Online provides a great ‘one stop shop’ for us to quickly come up to speed on major industries. It provides us with an overall analysis of the market, key statistics, and overviews of the major players in the industry in an online service that is fast, easy to navigate, and reliable.

Wendy Stotts, Manager, Carlson Companies

I really appreciate the depth you were able to get to so quickly (for our project). The team has looked through the material and are very happy with the data you pulled together.

Hilton Worldwide, Marketing Manager

We are especially trying to push Plunkett since all of our students have to do so much industry research and your interface is so easy to use.

Library Services, St. John’s College

We are especially trying to push Plunkett’s since all of our students have to do so much industry research and your interface is so easy to use.

Gary White, Business Materials Selector, Penn State University

Your tool is very comprehensive and immensely useful. The vertical marketing tool is very helpful, for it assists us in that venue, as well as targeting customers’ competition for new sales…The comprehensive material is absolutely fabulous. I am very impressed, I have to say!

Tammy Dalton, National Account Manager, MCI

The more I get into the database, the happier I am that we’ll have it–REALLY happy!!! Between the quality and affordability of your product, its appeal to and value for our users, and the inestimably ethical and loyalty-guaranteeing conduct of your business, I will always have more than sufficient praises to sing for Plunkett Research.

Michael Oppenheim, Collections & Reference Services, UCLA

Plunkett Research Online is an excellent resource…the database contains a wealth of useful data on sectors and companies, which is easy to search and well presented. Help and advice on how to conduct, export and save searches is available at all stages.

Penny Crossland, Editor, VIP Magazine
Real Time Web Analytics