He said the millennial generation – people born from 1981 onwards – are more likely to buy travel products on their mobile phone than on any other device.
The social media channels they are mostly using are Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.
For travel companies who want to get involved in that community and sell holidays to them, they should use those channels in order to engage.
Yeates also said that 59% of millennials pay for flights by phone after searching for them on the same device, and 64% search for and book hotels on their mobiles too. Meanwhile, 66% of them think they will get the same experience if they do it from a phone as from a laptop or other devices.
Delegates were told that millennials are not brand loyal – especially when it comes to travel – and are much more likely to look for a brand that is easy to use online with a simple platform.
Yeates also said that their travel decisions will also influence older age groups, via social media and word of mouth, and their traits are being mimicked by older generations.
He mentioned five things that businesses can do to better interact with millenials:
1. Make everything mobile optimised – so the website is not just responsive, it is optimised for a mobile user.
2. Tell stories – about destinations and experiences,be as visual as possible, use images, use Instagram stories, Snapchat, create a life-like experience to stimulate interest.
3. Personalise their experience – try to create tailored content for the millennial market, target them by creating a sub-brand specifically for that audience, in a ‘millennial context’.
4. Be open – encourage user reviews, they will read good and bad reviews, deal with complaints openly and calmly, 12% of millennials say online chat would help them when buying a holiday.
5. Utilise data – learn how to use it, if you have Google analytics you can see how they interact with your site, monitor and measure the effect of your efforts.
He ended by saying millennials will soon be spending more than any other generation on travel.
