Recommend August 2018 - 14

"
Gen Z travelers are more independent, more willing to do the
hard research and more willing to travel alone-they have
all the techy gadgets and devices, so if you want to work with
them you must be techy as well.
-- Lauren Medelberg, Medelberg's Travel Services,
Your Travel Center/Montecito Village Travel

Survey Says...

"

For the Millennial & Gen Survey, which we conducted on recommend.com, we
reached out to Recommend readers to see what's happening in their agencies
when it comes to Millennial and Gen Z bookings:
➢ 48% of survey respondents said that their Millennial clients are motivated
to travel to visit a new destination, with FIT tours being the top request.
➢ 25% of respondents say that their Generation Z clients are looking for
adventure travel.
➢ 55% of respondents said that their Millennial clients are taking 1 to 2 trips a
year, with 33 percent of respondents noting that their client base in this age group
is taking 3 to 4 trips a year. 72 percent of respondents, meanwhile, said that their
Generation Z clients will be traveling 1 to 2 times this year, not surprising given
that many are still in college and are less financially sound.
➢ 68% of respondents say that they are finding Millennial clients through
word of mouth, with 17 percent stating that social media is the channel that leads
this age group to them.
➢ 40% of respondents said that for their Millennial clients, social media plays
a very important role in their clients' travel planning, with 47 percent
of respondents saying it is very important for Generation Z.
➢ 63% of respondents note that younger-aged
Both Millennials and
Generation Z travelers (those 17 and under) have a
Generation Z want to
moderate influence on family vacation planning,
seek out new cultures,
with 23 percent saying it's actually quite high.
and Millennials are

Where are They Going?

opting for cruises for
their vacation.

Interestingly, according to our readers, both age groups
are going to the very international destinations that always
poll high on "must-visit destinations": Caribbean, Mexico and Italy, although
many of our respondents also pointed to Croatia, Ibiza, France, and Vietnam/
Cambodia as places of interest for Generation Z. For Millennials, Australia, Cook
Islands, New Zealand, Iceland, and Greece are a top draw. When it comes to their
own backyard, both Millennials and Generation Z have an affinity, according to
the survey respondents, to Florida, with Generation Z also heading to California,
Las Vegas, and New York City. Millennials are jetting off to Hawaii, as well as Las
Vegas and New York City, and they are interested in exploring the national parks,
perhaps because they are starting to grow their family and this is a great option
for parents with little ones. ■

14 august 2018

constantly evolving. The best restaurants,
buzzworthy places for Instagram pics, the
coolest hotels to stay at are not the same now
as they were 20 to 30 years ago. They might
not even be the same as they were two years
ago." Marek says, too, that it's important for
travel advisors serving Millennials to "create
innovative types of experiences."
And with Millennials and Generation Z
thriving on social media and apps, knowing
how to use these tools to attract clients and
keep in contact with them throughout the
process is key. In fact, Kochar mentions that
someone recently told her that, "'your social
media is your digital storefront,'" and Marek
communicates with his Millennial-aged clients
"on WhatsApp or Skype while they are on
their trip." Harris says, "Instagram is a great
tool, because it's so image-heavy. I enjoy
promoting tourism on that social channel with
pictures of my travels or of my clients' travels."
That said, many of the advisors we spoke
with mentioned that email is a fundamental
part of how they communicate. "I've found
that our younger clients are more inclined
to communicate through emails and chats
rather than on phone calls," says STA Travel's
LaSlavic. "Email allows," says Schultz,
"both parties to communicate any time
of the day and night."
Young advisors also suggest creating several
access points to clients, too, whether that's
creating a "communication inquiry link on
a website, a quick text to answer outlying
questions or providing access to a smartphone
app that has integrated your personalized
itinerary," says Kochar.
Kobasky even says that she works out of
Google docs "so that clients can see changes as
they're being made in real time, and can also
contribute comments, feedback and edits in one
living document. Millennials LOVE planning
this way."
But perhaps Schultz says it best: "At the end
of the day, they want an expert, they want you
to know as much or more than they do, and
they want you to be engaging because that is
going to shine through with what you can craft
for their trip." ■
* For this report, USTOA assisted Recommend
in gathering responses from some of its members,
including Cox & Kings, The Americas; Intrepid
Travel; and SITA World Tours. Your Travel
Center/Montecito Village Travel polled its 400+
employees and independent contractor travel
advisors for insight to our questions.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend August 2018
