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Amex and Expedia eye the U.S.’s biggest generation
The Millennials, a generation larger than the Baby Boomers, already form the next great wave of travel agency customers, accounting for 20% of global travel spend.
This week both Expedia and American Express offered up insights into connecting with this most connected of generations.
Expedia’s "The Future of Travel Study" notes that millennial travelers, those between 18 and 30 years old, love their loyalty programs, perhaps because they travel more than any other group.
They are on the road for business about 30% more than older workers (4.7 times per year versus 3.6 times for 30-45 year-olds) and take 7.8 leisure trips per year.
Millennials are also more likely to extend a business trip into a personal vacation (62%) and to post a negative review when they run into trouble (26%).
That’s why at the 2013 National Summit of the U.S. Representative Travel Network in Nashville this week, vice president Tony Gonchar advised agents to take this generation "very very seriously."
To catch their eye, Gonchar said, you’ll need to ditch the brochures in favor of online videos, and to demonstrate that you know more about the destination than Google does.
In this socially networked group, he said, don’t hesitate to offer the upsell and to ask for referrals to their friends.
"You might be amazed at what happens," he says.
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