By Brooke Bergman
Currently the travel industry’s most influential customer, Millennials are becoming more and more responsible for changing the way that we travel. A generation that has never experienced life without computers, Millennials have come to expect everything to be available anywhere, anytime. And companies are taking notice.
With 49% of Millennials planning as well as booking trips on their smartphones (according to Expedia’s Future of Travel Study), apps that deliver reviews, last-minute discounts and flight statuses are influencing the when, where and how aspects of travel like never before. And with 40% of Millennials likely to share a travel experience on social media during their trip, and 34% likely to voice trip details after their return, delivering first-rate service and experiences are more important than ever -- and both big brands and startups are paying attention.
Emerging Apps, Websites and Technologies Targeting Millennials
With everything they need at their fingertips, Millennials are making travel decisions faster than ever before.
Companies developing mobile apps like Hotel Tonight, City Maps 2Go Offline Maps and Wi-Fi Finder are popping up every day to provide travelers with reliable information in just a few simple clicks on their smartphone. Not all companies are jumping on the app bandwagon. Virgin America has chosen instead to focus their efforts on optimizing their website to be responsive instead.
And thanks to Millennials, which Deloitte describes as the impatient, self-reliant, service-oriented generation, small startups have been able to enter an industry with traditionally an exorbitantly high entry barrier and change things for the better. Gone are the days of calling an airline carrier to find the next available flight out of a city or the quickest route to a meeting at that exact second; Next Flight and Waze have it covered.
Technologies like Stay.ee are reacting to fast-clicking, social media-influenced Millennial habits. Stay.ee is giving travel companies the chance to build qualified retargeting pools even when users aren’t landing on their website with the use of their URL shortening tool. To explain Stay.ee simply, a hotel can post a Stay.ee generated link to their Twitter account pointing to a review of their hotel on a trusted third-party website such as TripAdvisor. Stay.ee’s technology installs a cookie to the user’s browser through the link, not through landing on their website and the company can now remarket tailored advertising messages to that user across every platform and device.
In the case of the sample above, an advertising message offering a last-minute deal to the specific property just reviewed would be appropriate and the travel company’s best chance at generating an immediate sales conversion.
How Travel Companies Can Keep Up
As Millennials grow older and the next generation begins to fill their shoes, keeping up with generational demands will prove to be more important than ever. Demands such as easy-to-use apps and streamlined websites are just the beginning. Millennials and their successors will also come to expect even faster response times, multiple touch points and more personalized experiences. Travel companies and entrepreneurs entering the travel space should keep all of those ideas in mind, but should be aware of their brand and what makes the most sense for the long-term goals of their company.
Following trends is easy to do and often a quick way to make a splash in a market, but now is the time to look beyond what’s working today and decide what will work tomorrow.
Brooke Bergman is the Co-Founder and Vice President of Allied Business Network Inc., a free to join business network that offers entrepreneurs and small- to medium-sized businesses extensive discounts on the products and services that they use every day.
