Across all industries, Millennials seem to be marketers’ dreams, however, because they are so different, travel brands have struggled to reach them; Often what they have communicated as their preferences does not turn out to be what works in practice.

Nonetheless, Millennial travelers now account for between USD $200 and $300 billion in annual spending worldwide. Their numbers are huge.

An impressive global percent

Worldwide, they are the largest living generation, composing 25 percent of the United States population and even larger percentages in Latin and Middle Eastern countries. Moreover, they actually make up 20 percent of all global tourists.

Comparing Millennials to other travelers

By comparison to other travelers, Millennials take more frequent, shorter trips and stay closer to home. This finding is probably due to

Business-traveling Millennials

And by 2020, Boston Consulting Group forecasts that Millennials will account for a full 50 percent of business travel spending. We found it very interesting that, according to The 2015 Resonance Report: Portrait of the U.S. Millennial Traveler, 22 percent already blend business and leisure in the same trip; Resonance calls it “bleisure”. In this regard, they are following in the footsteps of their predecessors, The Baby Boomers.

Millennials prioritize travel over other spending

According to the new Skift report, Portrait of the Millennial Traveler, they put travel ahead of other purchases. Thus, they will consistently choose holiday spending over the investment in high-priced furniture, for example. They will buy the furniture from Ikea and put the rest of their discretionary funds into travel.

Assorted interesting facts

According to AdAge Magazine, more than 40 percent of US Millennials are already parents, and 9,000 Millennial women give birth each day. Thus, it is not surprising that found that 57 percent of Millennial travelers are married, and slightly more than half (54 percent) have children. Millennial travelers were also found to be more highly educated and wealthier than expected.

What we can expect from Millennials

Other research indicates that once they have children, their vacation patterns change to accommodate their offspring. As more Millennials have families, we expect them to choose more family destinations. And because this generation is so experience-oriented, they will “splurge” on experiences for both themselves and their children.

Expect to see the major travel brands catering to this lucrative segment; however, the danger is that they will make the shifts too soon and alienate their Baby Boomer and Gen X travelers. It will be critical for brands to listen to all of their travelers, not just the Millennials. 

© Copyright 1998-2016 by The Herman Group of Companies, Inc., all rights reserved. From 'The Herman Trend Alert,' by Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist. (800) 227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com    

The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group of Companies, Inc. Reprinted with permission.