With Millennials expected to soon surpass Boomers in overall travel spending, hotels, booking sites and destination marketing organizations are retooling their product, branding, business models and communication methods. Here’s what they should prepare for. To purchase the full report go to: http://skift.com/travel-trends/the-rise-of-the-millennial-traveler/

1. The Rise
of the
Millennial
Traveler
Sponsored by
SKIFT REPORT #9
2014
With Millennials expected to soon surpass
Boomers in overall travel spending, hotels,
booking sites and destination marketing
organizations are retooling their product,
branding, business models and communication methods. Here’s what they should
prepare for.
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About the sponsor
buuteeq creates easy-to-use, cloud-based digital marketing software that
gives hoteliers complete control of their online content anytime, anywhere.
Web, mobile, social—it’s all you. No more waiting for an agency to update your site. You’ll publish and manage content, view complete analytics, and integrate with your property’s existing reservation system, all
while keeping pace with technology.
Since its 2011 launch, buuteeq has helped more than 6,000 properties
worldwide connect with guests directly, thereby saving time and money
over traditional agencies.
Learn more.

3. The Rise of the Millennial Traveler
SKIFT
REPORT
#9
2014
Table of contents
Executive Summary 3
About Skift
Skift is a travel intelligence company that
Introduction 5
Millennial Trends 9
Marketing to a Generation That Can’t Easily Be Labeled 9
Articulating a Voice of a Generation 10
The Rise of User-Generated Content 12
Traveling with Millennials 13
Hotel Trends 15
The Kinship Economy 15
Booking Habits of Millennials 16
The Future of Mobility 17
Building a Brand for Next Gen Travelers 18
Millennial-Native Hospitality 19
Destination Trends 21
Becoming an Insider 21
Marketing a Digital Destination 22
Targeting What Motivates 24
The Neighborhood DMO 25
Pairing Conventions with High-Concept Tech 26
“Meetovation” Inspires Next Gen Planners 28
Key Strategies for Attracting Millennial Travelers 29
Further Reading 32
About Skift 33
7
services to professionals
in travel and professional
travelers, to help them
make smart decisions
about travel.
Skift is the business of
travel.
Visit skift.com for more.

4. The Rise of the Millennial Traveler
SKIFT
REPORT
Executive summary
Millennials:
The Connected
Generation
Courtesy
Aloft Hotels
With Millennials/Generation Y expected to soon surpass Boomers in overall travel spending, hotels, booking sites and destination
marketing organizations (DMOs) are retooling their product, branding, business models and communication methods. However, many
established players in the travel and hospitality industries are simply
applying cosmetic changes to outdated methodologies. This is due to
an under-appreciation of the magnitude of changes looming in the
future, and a lack of true understanding about the root factors underpinning the motivations of Millennial travelers.
Presently, a large percentage of hotels and DMOs believe that technology and social media are the answer to engage Millennials. That’s
true, but it’s only half of the answer. According to keynote speaker
Jason Dorsey (The Gen Y Guy), Millennials are not necessarily technologically savvy; they’re technologically dependent. That dependence is merely a conduit through which to dream, research, share and
experience travel. It is not the travel experience itself.
The biggest travel trends today, especially for Millennials, revolve
around personalization and connectivity. The successful travel pro-
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5. The Rise of the Millennial Traveler
SKIFT
vider in the future will incorporate technology to deliver the ultimate
travel aspiration for Millennials: Highly personalized experiences
shared within larger connected networks of like-minded travelers—
both real and virtual.
In other words, Millennials want more, and they’ve redefined “more.”
They want the freedom to do what they want, when and how they
want to, and they want to share those experiences with friends,
family and colleagues when and how they want to.
Chris Klauda, a VP at travel and hospitality market research company
D. K. Shifflet & Associates, discussed this in the The New York Times
last year. Describing the Millennial desire to connect online in hotel
lobbies versus guest rooms, he said, “We coined the phrase ‘isolated
togetherness.’“
Michael Tiedy, senior VP of brand design/innovation at Starwood Hotels,
puts it even more succinctly: “Millennials like to be alone, together.”
We call it the rise of independent social travel.
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2014