Millennials — those born between 1980 and 2000 — are the force behind a major cultural shift in the United States. They’re a major focus of our coverage here at BusinessJournalism.org.
The shift from baby boomers to millennials is amazingly illustrated in the travel habits of this segment of the population.
Why do millennials travel? According to numbers published by Statista the top five reasons are:
- 73 percent cite a cultural interest;
- 71 percent are heading off on food/cuisine-driven travel;
- 69.3 percent say it’s due to price sensitivity;
- 69.2 percent are “exploration hungry”
- 68.7 percent wants a real destination, not a commercial tourism product such as a theme park
Thanks to online travel websites like Expedia, TravelZoo and LastMinuteTravel.com, millennials can get great last-minute package deals that include low air fares and rock-bottom hotel prices. But they don’t want to go on the vacations their parents went on, or took them on.
In a recent report, the Boston Consulting Group said members of the Millennial generation haven’t yet become the core customers of airlines, hotels, and travel companies. But it predicts they will be in five to 10 years after they enter their peak earning, spending, and traveling years.
Travel market research firm PhoCusWright broke that down further, noting that 66 percent of Millennials consider travel a very important part of their life, while another 71 percent took short getaways of three nights or less, but were also twice as likely as older travelers to take trips of 14 or more days.
STORY IDEAS
Benét J. Wilson is co-editor of AirwaysNews.com and blogs at AviationQueen.com. She has been an aviation/travel journalist for more than 20 years. Follow her on Twitter @AvQueenBenet
