1. Focus on Millennial Travelers
Brought to you by Ruthanne Terrero, VP/Editorial Director:

2. The Big Picture: Travel is Up!
 Demand for travel is the highest it’s been since 2004.
 16 million trips are taken a year and that number is growing
 8 out of 10 affluent consumers said they will take an
international trip in the near future.
 As demand grows, rates will go up as suppliers get more
buying power. They will have more leverage when negotiating
rates for FITs.

3. THE PORTRAIT OF AMERICAN
TRAVELERS®
 A national survey conducted in 2013 by MMGY Global.
 2,511 active leisure travelers who reside in households with an
annual income of $50,000 or more (including an “affluent
traveler” subset of households with an annual income over
$125,000).
 They had taken at least one leisure trip of 75 miles or more
from home during the previous 12 months requiring overnight
accommodations.

4. How Mexico Fared Last Year
 12% of U.S. leisure travelers who took an international trip
visited Mexico
 19% visited the Caribbean
 29% visited Europe

5. Desire to Travel In Next 2 Years
 24% of US leisure travelers are interested in visiting
Mexico on vacation during the next two years
 47% are interested in visiting the Caribbean
 61% are interested in visiting Europe

6. Most Interested in Going To Mexico
 Millennials (31 percent) showed the strongest interest in
visiting Mexico in the next 2 years.

7. What is a Millennial?
 They are 18-35 years of age
 Recognize the size of the market: There are 95 million Millennials out
there.
 That’s compared to 78 million Baby Boomers.
 They spend $200 billion a year on travel.
 They comprise 22 percent of the traveling public and while they’re leaning
toward budget travel now, they’re growing up and will soon be able to
spend more. They are the future.
 They take on average eight to nine trips a year; that’s business +
pleasure, but they’re extending work trips into leisure breaks.

8. Activities of greatest interest to
Millennials while on vacation include:
 81% - having enough time to relax and unwind
 79% - a destination I have never visited before
 78% - safety of the destination
 76% - an opportunity to try new and unusual cuisine
 72% - a beach experience
 66% - visiting architectural sites
 61% - shopping
 59% - visiting an amenity spa
 57% - nightlife and entertainment
 53% - hiking/climbing/biking
 48% - participation in water sports
 46% - gambling
 45% - playing golf

9. Note: How Do Millennials Unwind?
Ask them to define that for you.
.

10. Intel from the Travel Agent magazine
Mexico Roundtable at Tianguis
 Millennials are traveling in “group couple trips.” They see
Mexico as an upscale viable jet set destination, on par with Las
Vegas and South Beach.
 They want to get dressed up and
go out at night, either at the
resort or outside.
 The ease of the all inclusives
appeals to them.
 They want to fly four to five hours,
max, for their getaways.

11. Millennials Can Be Foodies…
 They don’t want a high volume of restaurants, they want high-quality
restaurants.
 They want to know
the brands of the
liquor that will be
served.
 They’re curious about
high-end services
available at resorts.

12. YOLO!! The Luxury Millennial
 The Millennial buzzword, YOLO. (You Only Live Once.)
 Using this as an excuse, Millennials are spending their money
NOW to go to iconic hotels or the newest destination.
 They’ll worry about the rest later.
 They don’t believe that Social Security
will be there for them when they retire;
they don’t have hopes for a bright future.

13. FOMO!! Fear of Missing Out
 Millennials can see
everything their friends
and strangers are
doing and want to
be a part of it.
 Ask Millennial clients
if they have friends
who might want to
travel with them.

14. Building a Millennial Itinerary
 Itineraries need to be less tour heavy and
more active. Suggest taking a bike ride
through a city on arrival.
 A car and driver for a full day is not the
ultimate luxury for Millennials who may feel trapped or want to
spend that money on something else.
 Sell Millennials on a hotel’s rooftop bar or garden terrace rather
than on the size of the room.
 Wow them: Millennials like unique surprise amenities, like a
chocolate bar with their name inscribed on it.

15. Top Tips: The Millennial Sales Process
 You need to make them listen.
 Convince them that you know what
you’re talking about. Be patient and
strong when they challenge you
with what their friends told them or what they read online.
 It’s worth it. They are the next generation so you need to learn
to work with them.

16. Get As Much Info From Them Up Front
 If they’re taking a big trip, you need to get them past texting
you.
 Have them fill out a questionnaire
online they can get through quickly.
 Work with them to choose the
destination first, then the resort, then
the room category, the customized
experiences, then the nightlife

17. How to Attract Millennial Clients
 Having Millennial advisors helps. But that’s not always
necessary, however as Millennials do see advisors older than
themselves as experts.
 Be an advisor to the entire family, including the children and
grandchildren, regardless of who is paying.
 Incentivize clients to recommend you to their children.
 Focus on honeymoon travel.

18. Tapping into the Millennial Culture
 Millennials like to champion brands they love. Be sure your
brand is something they want to be a part of.
 Let the culture of your business show through online,
Facebook, Instagram and other social media. Create a vibe
people want to be a part of.
 Don’t do a hard sell on Facebook. Posting deal after deal will
make Millennials walk away. Instead, speak of the your own
travel experiences. Talk software, not hardware.

19. More Millennial Traits
 They want authenticity and do not want to feel like a tourist,
ever.
 They are more likely to try new things while on vacation.
 They, more than any other group, want to connect with people
on vacation.
 They want to share what they are experiencing as they are
experiencing it via social networks.

20. Social Networks: How They Shop
 Companies and institutions have placed great importance on
their home pages but people are now building their own
homepages via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You need to
push yourself on to their pages.
 On these sites they’re also seeing what their peers are
enjoying in terms of financial milestones. Cars, homes, trips.
 This creates peer pressure for them and it also exposes them
to photos of destinations and hotels they’d likely not have seen
or noticed before.

21. Attracting Millennial Advisors
 Internships
 College recruiting
 Offering good pay and benefits and training
 High commission splits on their own business
 Associate program with paid commissions
 Flexible office environment and the ability to work from home

22. Beware: It’s a New Day for Millennials
 With the economy now opening up,
Millennials are finding for the first time that
they have options in the job market.
 Their friends are finding new jobs and that
makes them curious as to what’s out there.
 If they came to you as entry level during the recession, be sure
to treat them as associates now, not recent grads. They want
respect and a good salary. They may not be loyal to staying
with you as they venture out into the world.

23. Don’t Fret! Baby Boomers Still Rock
 The Baby Boom generation represents the
“sweet spot,” as they still have that strong
intent to travel and most have the money
to travel.
 Seniors also continue to be a mainstay of
advisors’ business.

24. Hot Off the Press: Amadeus Study
 Amadeus just released a view of today’s Active Senior
travelers based on trend analysis, desk research and focus
group interviews with frequent
travelers ages 50+ in the U.S., United
Kingdom, France and Germany.
 By 2020, the global population of adults
age 65 and older will triple to 700 million,
including one in six Americans.

25. Challenging “Old” Assumptions
 Active Seniors are young at heart and do
not consider themselves “old.”
 They finally feel they have the time, energy
and funds to explore and do new things.
 Travel becomes more experience driven,
as they seek to spend their time in more
meaningful ways.
 One size does not fit all.

26. Doing Versus Owning
 Active Seniors no longer measure what they have by the
material goods they possess, rather by the experiences they
have lived.
 They value “sight-doing” vs. sightseeing, being active, learning,
discovering, and finding excitement in new experiences vs.
owning new things.

27. Leaving a Legacy
 Active Seniors feel they are in a better economic position than
their children, and want to share experiences that enrich the
entire family.
 They seek out altruistic activities
and view “voluntourism,”
mixing volunteer and tourism
activities, as a way to actively
contribute to society.

28. Tapping Technology
 In a world where technology seems to prevail, Active Seniors
see technology as a means rather than an end.
 “Always on” technology is not acceptable to them; they
appreciate human interaction, and value
travel professionals who offer personalized
service and convey a sense of trust and
confidence.

29. Latest Luxury Travel Trends
 For the past year, Luxury Travel Advisor has hosted at least
one roundtable a month across the globe, bringing together
suppliers and travel advisors to share consumer trends.
 The following insights are culled from 12 meetings with an
average of eight to 12 participants each and from the Ultra
Luxury Summit held March 25-27, 2014 in Chicago + from
MMGY Global.

30. Luxury is Back With a Vengeance.

31. Affluent Spending Their Wealth Now
The recession saw a holding back on spending. That
trend is gone.
 The 55+ affluent travelers have decided they are not
taking it with them nor are they leaving it behind.
 And they’re spending it on travel.

32. Today, We’re All A-Listers
 Consumers want hotel staff to remember their names and what
they did on their last trip.
 Everyone at a luxury hotel these days considers themselves a
VIP and expects
to be treated accordingly. Everyone.
 Personalization, customization and authenticity are the buzz
words for today.

33. Even the Wealthy Want Value
 People do not care how much things cost as long as they feel something
is being returned for their money.
Jonas Schuermann, Mandarin Oriental, Hong
Kong
 For the past three years, we’ve not sold a hotel that doesn’t come with
some value add. Fifteen years ago, I never asked for breakfast or
Internet. Now it’s the norm and it’s totally expected.
Peter Carideo, CRC Travel

34. Advance Bookings Are Back
 High season and festive season have moved back to a more
advanced booking time. Certain hot properties have to be
reserved very far in advance or it’s difficult to clear space.
 2015 and 2016 are being booked now.

35. Authenticity is in Demand
 People want to have a sense of where
they are. We encourage our hotels to
come up with experiences that are
always changing. In Paris, our chef
takes guests to the market where they
buy white asparagus when it’s in season.
They go back and they cook it
and everyone is touched by that.
Darren Gearing, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts

36. Radical Personalization
 It’s not always about the marquee,
super-expensive experiences, it might be
just a simple visit to learn paddle-boarding or something like
that. We are cultivating relationships with local suppliers to get
their guests insider access to experiences.
Christopher Gould, The Atlantic Hotel, Fort Lauderdale

37. The New “Bleisure”
 The leisure guest and the corporate guest seem to be merging
into each other. A business traveler can bring a spouse and
kids or they can tag on a couple of days to enjoy a destination.

38. Multi-Generational Travel Gets Bigger
 Family trips have expanded to group size over the past few
years. Now the groups are getting larger with up to 40 traveling
at once as family members join in.
 Guaranteed adjoining rooms, villas and rental homes are vital
to them.

39. The World As Classroom
 We’ve got so many more families with the
next generation coming along; they take
the kids out of school saying, “This is a
better experience than school.”
Amanda Hyndman, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

40. I’m Turning 30, 40, 50, 60, 75!
 Celebration travel is also strong. People
are traveling in groups to enjoy their
30th, 40th or 50th birthdays and they’re
bringing their friends along.

41. Thank you!
 Email me with questions at
Ruthanne Terrero
VP/Editorial Director, Travel Agent and Luxury Travel Advisor
rterrero@questex.com
 Twitter.com/ruthanneterrero