How Millennials Are Using Mobile in Travel

Millennials are not creating catfish apps, but eating them up like Filled Twizzlers. Millennials view travel as a birthright and are more inclined to spend money on an Uber ride or spend time trying to outsmart traffic with Waze than focusing on possessions. They see value in travel, particularly international journeys as a way of expanding their mind and living in their prime.

According to Vanessa Rodriguez, Director of Hotel Products and relations at Fareportal, travel brands must create award-winning mobile apps to connect to Millennial travelers. Gen-Y'ers, born in the 1980s and 1990s, are more numerous than Baby Boomers and three times the size of Generation X.  Baby Boomers will give up $400 billion in annual spending when they retire, leaving it up to Millennials to become the decision makers for what to buy their children and their aging parents. Salam Travel.

Young people are not planning in advance in today’s world. Their reliance on mobile technology, instant access, and constant contact are even headed out to the club on a Tuesday. WhatsApp and WeChat SMS messaging services are changing how Millennials share multimedia content in real-time from a night at the Bowling Alley to a day at Harry Potter World. As a result, the world of business travel is shifting its focus toward more intuitive technology, greater flexibility, and an always-on approach to connectivity.

2015 Millennial Mobile Travel Trends:

• 62 % more likely to extend a business trip into a vacation
• Quicker to embrace loyalty programs than older generations 
• 32 % percent reported using a smartphone to book business travel
• Use apps: TripIt, Tripadvisor, & GateGuru to streamline travel planning
• Find last-minute online travel deals & book to change their travel plans
• Use apps for dating like Tinder, MoMo, and even Snapchat
• Utilize Jetsetter, NextFlight, & GoGobot to find a flight/hotel on a whim.
• 73 % of young generation plans to take a last-minute vacation in 2015

Apps are the humla for travel companies to connect with millennials. Even though all hotels are not on the same page, hotels have foursquare mobile check-in options, allowing the millennial traveler to bypass the front desk and head directly to the room. Room service apps that allow you to order your car, in-room dining and concierge services all from your phone are already functioning in our independents — and the brands are catching up. The millennials are used to having options and aren't loyal to one brand. They'll go where the adventure is at Airbnb and then share it on Vine.

Millennials like to live social lifestyles and share it with the world. You can search your GPS now by talking to Google voice, find the official launch time announcement of a Space Shuttle by checking Twitter, or use Skype to make calls to family back home in Italy. Your content will not only be visible for Twitter users, but visible to infinity and beyond by using Google. With Twitter having 288 million active users per month and Google having 3.5 billion searches per day, this means, brand tweets will reach billions of impressions. Let’s not forget about Facebook or Baidu either. However, it all comes down to how connect with millenial traveleres. Each millenial has their own apps and networks they use. Test cultural groups and see what works to segment.

Millennials consist of foodies, artists, and even the last minute adventure travelers looking to go to Cancun, Mexico.  Visually appealing to their spicy food lifestyle on Yelp and extending their adrenaline of free diving on GoPro can all be accessed via their mobile. “Instagram is an especially interesting platform because it has grown so quickly," says Douglas Quinby, vice president of research at PhoCusWright. "It is especially popular with younger travelers--the much-coveted millennials--and it is a highly visual medium and lends itself to inspiration and shopping."

It’s all about value and what type of content you can allow us to share in activities with our friends. As a millennial myself, keep travel personalized by reaching my convenient lifeline first and inviting me to the party.  As travelers, we want an enriching experience to belong anywhere.