How to Connect With Millennial Travelers on Social Media

More than Gen Xers and Boomers, Millennials use the services of traditional travel agents and plan to continue to do so in the future. That said, this amounts to only one in four Millennial travelers. If agents want to reach more of these potential clients and sell to them more effectively, consider some of the recent findings from Internet Marketing Inc., which has compiled a new report on the habits of Millennial travelers. From an always-connected lifestyle to a desire for authenticity, here’s a look at some of these stats.

Travel-related search queries have increased by 43 percent since 2015, with three out of four Millennials having travel apps on their phone (compared to fewer than half of other generations) and a like number using phones and other mobile devices to do their searching; 85 percent check multiple sites before booking their travel to get the best deal possible and nearly half book through a smartphone or tablet, according to the report. It is, therefore, important to keep your sites and applications fully functional and user-friendly, especially with 86 percent of Millennials indicating that they are disappointed by the lack of good mobile responsiveness on websites.

Millennials also expressed a desire for authentic content, as opposed to stock images, so keep your agency’s site populated with photos taken during personal travels by you and other staffers. Beyond photos, Millennials will be looking at your site for engaging and valuable content. Other useful information gleaned from the Internet Marketing Inc. report include:

* 20 percent travel internationally

* 86 percent travel to experience a new culture

* 78 percent want to learn something new while traveling

* 49 percent take last-minute vacations

These findings complement some of the observations about Millennial travelers gleaned by Travel Agent’s sister publication Luxury Travel Advisor during an agent panel discussion at last summer’s Virtuoso Travel Week:

* Millennials share, and not just on social media; they will tell their friends about you.

* Some are used to traveling like their parents and grandparents and may like guides and formal itineraries.

* They want to know what they are paying for and like to pick and choose what to splurge on.