People Under 35 Spend 20% More on Travel

Tnooz cites an AmEx Business Insights report that claims that Millennials (people under 35 years old) spent 20% more on travel this year compared to last. This segment of the traveling populace is growing by leaps and bounds, and has already reached pre-recession levels here in the US.

This data is important for hotel marketers for a variety of reasons. Let’s take a quick look at the profile of a Millennials traveler, using data from Tnooz:

• 10.4 – the number of online sources that Millennials reference before making a travel related purchase
• 75% of Millennials have a social media profile (read: Facebook)
• 83% of Millennials not only have mobile devices, but sleep with them by the bed
• 84% say that UGC (user generated content—that is, updates from friends on Facebook, reviews of hotels on Yelp and hotel website articles, for example) significantly impacts their travel decisions
• 57% of them actively update their social media profiles like Facebook and Twitter every day.

As Tnooz puts it:

“The travel brands that take the time to develop integrated strategies centered around Millennials will reap lifetime rewards.”

Clearly, Millennials are not consuming the same media as their parents. Thus, to market a hotel, we must go online to meet Millennials where they are—on web, mobile, and social channels. What does a marketing plan based on a Millennial profile look like?

Millennials Do Their Research

Since Millennials do their research, it is imperative that you own the voice of at least one of the sources they refer to. They will likely visit your website before deciding to stay at your hotel, so it’s a good idea to have persuasive, compelling website content that informs them and encourages them to book. Having search engine targeted content that revolves around certain relevant keywords is a good strategy to producing UGC.

Millennials Use Facebook

People under 35 spend more money on travel and go to Facebook to find recommendations from friends and information about the hotels they’re considering visiting. Facebook is becoming a search engine in its own right, as demonstrated by Facebook’s recent exploration into Sponsored Results from search. Hotel marketers need to have a compelling, rich presence optimized for Facebook and be active in their social community.

Millennials And Their Phones are Impossible to Separate

Instead of a newspaper, they pull out their phones. Instead of a TV, they watch their phones. And ever-increasingly, instead of going to their computer to do travel research, they whip out their phones. Google predicts that mobile Internet browsing will surpass desktop computer browsing by as early as 2014. It is therefore essential that hotel marketers have a mobile optimized presence for their properties.

We at buuteeq are happy to chat about your hotel and its online marketing needs. Contact us using the form below to speak with one of our customer success professionals. The infographic following, produced by the fine fellows at bazaarvoice, further demonstrates the browsing profile and monetary power of Millennials.