Understanding the modern traveller

Gone are the days when travellers were defined by collective interests, status or culture. Marketing aimed at the modern traveller requires a deeper understanding of the group of individuals a segment represents as the travel industry is a highly competitive market.

When approaching modern travellers, we focus on generational segments and an understanding of business travel and B2B travellers. This allows us to better position an online offering in the fast-paced digital world.

They are a group of educated, travel-ready individuals. They are by far the largest generation, and the majority of them have attended college or university.

Being the first generation to be driven by digital and mobile, an online approach is certainly the best way to reach them. This generation prioritises recreational activities and experiences. A large segment of the traveller market who book leisure travel online are Millennials.

Having replaced Generation X as the largest generation of workers, they show interest in adding fun to their business trips. By impressing them, you guarantee favourable word-of-mouth. Most Millennials rely on recommendations from friends for ideas on where to travel next.

The middle child of the generational segments, Generation X is squeezed between two larger generations (Boomers and Millennials).

Generation X loves to travel, but are the most concerned with financial matters. These matters include saving for kids to go to college and their own comfortable retirement. Generation X is very focused on family and are keen to bring the kids on their vacations, making school holidays a top criterion for travel times. They are more conservative when it comes to travel budgets, and are the most price sensitive of the modern generational segments.

The majority of Gen X travellers rate exploration as an integral part of travelling, are very interested in the arts, and consider a destination’s cultural and art attractions as a draw to visit.

Baby Boomers are driving the new leisure economy. They control a huge chunk of current disposable income and are almost all planning to take a trip this year.

The main reason for Baby Boomers to travel is to create meaningful experiences. They are extremely interested in learning when they travel, regardless of the type of travel it is they undertake. Baby Boomers are looking for adventure, and they have the funds to pay for it.

A large amount of Baby Boomers indicate that they feel a lot younger than their years. Their main incentive for travel is to spend time with family and friends. They are currently driving the trend of multigenerational travel, whereby entire families (including extended family) are spending time at destinations or on trips and cruises.

Of all the modern traveller segments, this one represents B2B (Business to Business) travellers.

MICE, an acronym for “Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Expos,” represents a specialized segment in tourism. This niche form of group tourism is focused on facilitating gatherings of business meetings, conferences, seminars and other events.

Travel and tourism destinations that are marketed as MICE locations often bid for the opportunity to host MICE events. These large gatherings of business travellers create increased revenue for the area where the events are hosted and thus allow these destinations to offer subsidies to attract such events.

Meetings – Meetings are defined as any number of people coming together in one place for a particular activity, once-off or on a regular basis.

Incentive travel – Booked by companies and corporations, Incentive travel, is a way for an employer to reward employees by way of travel. Usually, the travelling done has no business or educational facet but is a recreational vacation acting as a motivational incentive to reward or inspire performance. The employee might have the opportunity to bring his family, or it could be a reward for a team or group of coworkers.

Conferences – Conferences are similar to meetings, but a specific objective and exchange of information is usually predetermined.

Exhibitions travel – Exhibitions showcase products and/or services displayed in a focused field of interest. Leaders in their field altogether in one place to represent their respective companies create a large gathering of like-minded individuals working in the same industry or trade. Businesses get the opportunity to gain new customers and debut new products or services.

At Realm Digital, we know that understanding your target market is just as important as speaking their language. Get in touch, and let’s discuss the advantages of a digital strategy that is tailor-made to you, your employees and the customers you serve.