Panelists explore preferences of millennials, see mobile and social as keys for travel players
By: Malek NejjaiHead of Global Corporate Communication, Amadeus IT Group
‘Inspiring
the
new
explorer
generation of
travellers’
panel
Many millennial travellers (born after 1980) are already taking trips, but what do they expect from the travel industry? How will they re-shape the entire travel experience and what will the business model look like by 2025? What investments should the industry make today to ensure future growth? These were a few of the questions examined at The Economist’s Future of Travel panel discussion entitled ‘Inspiring the new explorer generation of travellers’.
The panel kicked off with a compelling opening by Facebook’s Lee McCabe, Global Head of Travel, Education and
Consumer Services. Lee explained how Facebook is today’s prime
communication tool and THE platform to share travel experiences.
According to Facebook data, 70% of travellers update their
Facebook status and share information and pictures of their trips.
He also said that the ‘wisdom of friends’ played an important role
in trip planning.
Lee shared the excitement of his experience using Oculus Rift,
which is revolutionising the gaming and entertainment industry
and how this technology could be used in the travel industry as a
research tool for experiencing a destination before actually taking a
trip. However, for Facebook, the future is about mobile and apps:
“we have to move away from the world of the web to the world of
apps.” Lee firmly believes that today, travel companies should be
focusing on app development and that no matter what device
prevails in the future, “apps will become a key utility.”
To further debate, Lee was then joined by Louis Cole who describes
himself as an adventurer and film maker for FunForLouis vlogs.
Louis actively shares his life and experiences on YouTube as he
travels the world seeking new cultures and listening to the stories
of the people he meets. According to Louis, real-time video is the
best social media platform to transmit genuine experiences and
young generations prefer pictures and videos to text. Cole is
convinced that “the future is heading towards video” as a way to
share experiences and memories and that tourism destination
providers have to change their marketing approach to reach this
next generation of travellers. He is convinced that videos are the
best medium in which to support brands, destinations and travel
in general.
Allister Hann, CTO of Skyscanner, then shed some light on the
new generation of travellers who “consume travel in the same way
as they live and for whom travel is a social experience” that has to
be shared in order to connect to the “tribe“ that they belong to.
No matter what platform the future brings, “travel search has to
be made easy” and the travel experience has to be the only
objective.
Facebook’s Lee McCabe, Global Head of Travel, Education and Consumer Services
Bart van Poll, co-founder ofSpotted by Locals, joined the panel to
talk about how he started his own travel guide after experiencing
too many frustrations with unoriginal, impersonal and outdated
recommendations in touristy travel guides and online. Spotted by
Locals consist of a series of apps and blogs with up-to-date tips by
locals in close to 60 cities in Europe and the US. Bart mentioned
that actually, “in 2015, Millennials might not even visit the Eiffel
Tower when travelling to Paris!“ He added that Millennials go
abroad much more than previous generations, they keep in touch
through social media while travelling, and that the line between
business and leisure travel is getting more and more blurred.
Finally, he said millennials want to feel like locals when they travel
as they see this as a “way of life”. Bart urges the travel industry to
adapt to the new requirements of millennial travellers and use the
right channels and means to meet their expectations. For Spotted
by Locals, millennials and the travel and tourism industry have to
build links with local providers and not so much with big
corporations like “Starbucks, who makes all cities look the same”.
Lee McCabe from Facebook closed the panel stating that the future
of travel is about;
- Connection, i.e. the devices that will be used
- Context , i.e. personalisation where big data is key in knowing
- who to target and with what type of offer
- Convenience, i.e. “when I transact, make it easy for me”
