What Matters to Millennials?
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Reaching out to the LGBT customer has always required going that extra mile, being innovative and hitting the right notes. However things just got more difficult because the next generation of travellers are rapidly becoming known for their power to disrupt the norm. Millennials are the generation known for being connected 24/7, being entrepreneurial, embracing the sharing economy and living for the moment. However they are also disloyal to brands, capable of whipping up a Twitter storm in minutes, and, crucially, Millennials in many countries around the world are even starting to regard being LGBT as a non-issue. So what does all this mean for LGBT-relevant brands and destination marketers? Here I take a look at the wider issues Millennials face today, and explain how this impacts their travel choices. I also explain how the LGBT travel industry can seize opportunities to adapt their products to the taste of demanding Millennial consumers.
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What Matters to Millennials?
- 1. @GenCTraveller What Matters to Millennials? Peter Jordan Founder, Gen C Traveller IGLTA Annual Global Convention Los Angeles, April 2015
- 2. Peter Jordan @GenCTraveller • Specialist in Millennial traveller trends • Senior Tourism Analyst, TOPOSOPHY • Founder, GenCTraveller.com • Over 13 years’ experience in global tourism trends & policy • Author of leading trends reports into emerging outbound markets, youth, LGBT, the sharing economy and the future of destination marketing >>
- 3. Peter Jordan @GenCTraveller • Thought-leader in the area of Millennials, emerging markets and global tourism • Consultancy and strategic advice on engaging with Millennial travellers • Guides destinations in re- orienting their management and marketing towards the Millennials market
- 4. @GenCTraveller Who are Millennials? 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Born during this period Enters teenage years – becomes an independent consumer, post-2000 Gen X Baby- boome rs Gen Z
- 7. “1 in 3 Millennials Has A Tattoo” HuffPost Style, 16 Jan 2013
- 10. …and what about LGBT Millennials? @GenCTraveller
- 11. A generation shaped by world events… @GenCTraveller
- 12. Source: Viacom Intl Mediaworks, The Next Normal (2012) @GenCTraveller
- 13. @GenCTraveller The Recession Generation • High unemployment • Job insecurity, weak contracts • Decline in home and car ownership among Millennials • Witnessed the limits of government intervention • Seen parents and grandparents with poor returns on pensions and investment
- 14. @GenCTraveller Poor future expectations “I will earn more than my parents” (Australian Millennials) Source: Viacom Intl Mediaworks, The Next Normal (2012) Age 15-24 Age 25-30 13% 17% Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, India Greece, NL, Spain, UK, Japan
- 16. @GenCTraveller “Which of the following are important to you?” Source: Voxburner, Youth Trends 2015, UK 16-24 year olds 0 20 40 60 80 100 Being financially stable Doing well at uni/college Being kind to friends, family, colleauges Working hard Having a healthy lifestyle Developing new skills Standing up for myself Making my community a better place Being a goody two-shoes None of the above UK youth, aged 16-24, January 2015
- 17. @GenCTraveller “What life skills are you eager to learn?” Source: Voxburner, Youth Trends 2015, UK 16-24 year olds 0 20 40 60 80 Self confidence A new language Cooking Gaining connections/networking New sport / new ways to keep fit Understanding money Social skills Understanding other cultures Writing my résumé Coding Wardrobe skills (ironing/laundry)
- 18. @GenCTraveller “How do you define success?” 0 20 40 60 80 Being happy Being part of a loving family Having a job you enjoy Being rich Doing well at school Having kids Being in control Looking good Being famous Driving a nice car Source: Viacom Intl Mediaworks, The Next Normal (2012)
- 19. @GenCTraveller Summary: This generation is... Hyper connected, globally aware More realistic, looking to get ahead Hooked on self-improvement Seeking support, advice & reassurance Just wants to be happy
- 20. So how do Millennials travel? Four key characteristics @GenCTraveller
- 22. @GenCTraveller SOCIAL • Social media is now the go-to resource for news, reviews, gossip, inspiration and advice • Checked at least once per hour LOCAL • Geo-location based apps bring to life local possibilities, connecting them with people and places MOBILE • 1bn people in the developing world use only mobile to get online
- 24. @GenCTraveller ONLINE Friends, relatives, colleagues and, umm, ‘acquaintances’…. OFFLINE • ‘Meet the locals’ (Airbnb, EatWith, TripIt…) • ‘The perfect hotel lobby’ • Seeking authentic experiences & local knowledge
- 26. @GenCTraveller DRIVING THE SHARING ECONOMY • Prizes access over ownership • Consuming in the crisis • Rising entrepreneurship • A generation comfortable with trust generated through reviews • A better way to get to know their chosen destination?
- 28. LAST-MINUTE LIVING • #YOLO culture • Prizing experiences over assets • 19% of Brits have used their smartphone to book a trip on the same day as departure • 59% have booked this way in the same week as departure Source:: LastMinute.com Sponteneity Report 2014, Photo: Design is Cooler @GenCTraveller
- 29. Millennials and Sexuality - key events @GenCTraveller
- 30. Equal marriage @GenCTraveller Anti-discrimination laws Improved education in schools Increased visibility & awareness Celebrity coming-outs Popularisation of pride events In our time…
- 31. of US Millennials identify as L, G, B or T @GenCTraveller 7% Source: US Public Religion Research Institute, 30 Mar 2015 73% of US Millennials support legal protections against homophobic discrimination in jobs, public housing and accom for LGBT people Source: US Public Religion Research Institute, 30 Mar 2015
- 32. Lesbian @GenCTraveller Asexual Bisexual 12 shades of gay… Pansexual Demisexual Homoflexible Heteroflexible Queer Gay Sapiosexual Questioning Straight
- 33. @GenCTraveller “Homosexuality should be accepted by society” 0 20 40 60 80 100 United States Canada United Kingdom Spain South Korea Brazil Mexico China Indonesia 18-29 30-49 50+ Source: “The Global Divide on Homosexuality, Pewglobal.org, 4 June 2013
- 34. Maybe it’s a mistake to treat LGBT Millennials separately from their peers? @GenCTraveller
- 36. Know your audience in a personal way, because they will expect it @GenCTraveller
- 37. @GenCTraveller Photo credits: RuPaul: Huffington Post, Bear: Bearzdance, Ginger: Stockholdmgymsyndrome,
- 38. How are you going to help them unlock their hopes and aspirations? @GenCTraveller
- 39. Seeking happiness @GenCTraveller Culturally curious Globally aware Seeking to meet the locals and learn new skills Looking for realistic role models Want to do some good Travel is the answer…
- 40. How are you working with Millennials in general? @GenCTraveller
- 43. @GenCTraveller Something to think about… • What do you find most difficult about reaching the Millennial market? • In what ways do you think geo-location based apps (Grindr, Tinder, Scruff…) have changed the way gay men and women travel? • Which of the pressing issues facing gay men and women is the LGBT travel industry best placed to address? How might you go about it? • What kind of opportunities does the diversification of LGBT ‘tribes’ present for the travel industry?
Editor's Notes
- First, let’s all be absolutely clear on who Millennials are….
- You read a lot of hype about Millennials
- In some ways these hyped up articles do, often point to a real trend - But like it or not, how do you bridge that divide between the generations? The press is obsessed about us right now because in just 10 years’ time, we will make up 75% of the workforce
- You also read a lot of crap…. I think this headline highlights a couple of very important points. At first, you think “wow” is that real?” (and then you read the headline!). Upon further inspection, it turns out that this came from a small sample of 18-25 year olds, contacted by cellphone in the US. So what we read, might not always relate to our own experience. I don’t have any tattoos, but that doesn’t mean that I can just dismiss it. It’s sometimes hard not to let our own perceptions and experience clash with general trends. Which is why it’s important to step back and look at the bigger picture. What matters to me might not matter to someone else, something which, often being quick to judge in the LGBT community (just putting it out there!) makes it even more difficult to separate our own tastes and interests from those of the masses.
- But our tastes and interests are driven by our personal values, and that’s why, when you’re trying to figure out this generation, you have to ask: what really matters to Millennials as whole?
- What trends are affecting the way in which Millennials travel? Well, it’s all a process, and there’s an indivisible relationship between the ways Millennials act as individuals, as consumers and as travellers.
- I think it’s also important for me to make clear to you from the outset that the data and opinion I’m going to share with you today has been done on Millennials as a whole. It’s often very easy to get caught up in our daily work and in the customers we see the most (or make the most noise), while losing sight of the biggest picture. So that’s what I want to share with you today. Where possible I have used sources which use the largest samples and seem most representative, from as wide a geographic sample as possible, and in line with trends expressed elsewhere. Some of you will be working in LGBT specific businesses, and others in businesses that have an interest in the LGBT market. What I’d like to do today is take a step back and what is happening to this age group as a whole, and then discuss some of the issues relating to this market, drawing on what we’ve learned from the wider trends occuring with this age group. While LGBT Millennials are increasingly able to identify with their peers, and societal progress means they aren’t treated so differently, I think when it comes to LGBT marketing, there are some valuable lessons that we can take away and apply to our own area of business.
- Every generation is shaped by events, both near to home and far. And some of those world events have been profound, and magnified by the power of the internet, something which this generation (the first generation to grow in the era of internet everywhere has experienced first hand…) Gone are the days of getting home to switch on the TV to see what’s been happening…(or getting a choice about that)…
- In 2010, adults between the ages of 21 and 34 bought just 27 percent of all new vehicles sold in America, down from the peak of 38 percent in 1985. Furthermore, the share of young people getting their first mortgage between 2009 and 2011 is half what it was just 10 years ago.
- In 2010, adults between the ages of 21 and 34 bought just 27 percent of all new vehicles sold in America, down from the peak of 38 percent in 1985. Furthermore, the share of young people getting their first mortgage between 2009 and 2011 is half what it was just 10 years ago. However, not all Millennials affected equally: Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China and India responded positively, Negative: Greece, Spain, NL, UK, Japan.
- Data from this year, Voxburner…. This is borne out by a lot of the top research that is being done right now. Just last month I participated in Youth Marketing Strategy 2015 in London where we discussed a major survey on a broad section of British youth aged 16-24 today…
- And when they were asked how they would achieve this…. This is a generation concerned with self-improvement Globally aware, aware of what’s ahead, preparing early for the job market Recession generation – more realistic and grounded than those in upper age bracket.
- When we walk about life-defining events, LGBT Millennials have witnessed, in their formative years some of the greatest leaps forward in achieving equality for LGBT people around the world.
- When we walk about life-defining events, LGBT Millennials have witnessed, in their formative years some of the greatest leaps forward in achieving equality for LGBT people around the world.
- When we walk about life-defining events, LGBT Millennials have witnessed, in their formative years some of the greatest leaps forward in achieving equality for LGBT people around the world.
- In fact, OK cupid now offers 12 descriptions of sexuality to match the one which suits you best. I knew the US was the land of choice, but I had no idea it was possible to choose from such a long menu!
- Look at generational attitudes around the world and they all point in the same direction…
- So if lesbian and gay Millennials increasingly are able to identify with and be accepted by their peers, then maybe treating them as a separate species could be your biggest mistake? But I’m not at the IGLTA Annual Global Convention to tell you all that the future of LGBT travel is dead. Instead, I think that there are some interesting lessons that we can apply from what we know about Millennials at large for speaking to LGBT customers directly….
- So if lesbian and gay Millennials increasingly are able to identify with and be accepted by their peers, then maybe treating them as a separate species could be your biggest mistake? But I’m not at the IGLTA Annual Global Convention to tell you all that the future of LGBT travel is dead. Instead, I think that there are some interesting lessons that we can apply from what we know about Millennials at large for speaking to LGBT customers directly….
- So if lesbian and gay Millennials increasingly are able to identify with and be accepted by their peers, then maybe treating them as a separate species could be your biggest mistake? But I’m not at the IGLTA Annual Global Convention to tell you all that the future of LGBT travel is dead. Instead, I think that there are some interesting lessons that we can apply from what we know about Millennials at large for speaking to LGBT customers directly….
- As visibility has increased, so have the opportunities for personalisation that Millennials crave. I’ve been coming to these events for years and while all those pictures of boys in swimwear are easy on the eye, I just don’t identify with them. They seem to set the standard for gay marketing (or maybe they’re just the most eye-catching?) but are they truly representative of gay men today? I totally get that they’re set up as ideals but keep it in mind when I share this next lesson…
- As we’ve seen, Millennials are a generation looking for support, guidance and reassurance. Is it the job of a holiday company to give them that? Perhaps not directly, but you HAVE to show that you understand their world.
- Travel offers the opportunity to do EXACTLY the things Millennials crave - being
- As we’ve seen, Millennials are a generation looking for support, guidance and reassurance. Is it the job of a holiday company to give them that? Perhaps not directly, but you HAVE to show that you understand their world.
- Thus your offer has to me SoLoMo – Social, local, mobile.
- Previously, gay men and women travelled to get away, hide, and ‘be who they are’. With increased acceptance among friends and family, where do they fit into the Millennials’ travel plans. Multi-generational travel in the travel industry at large is sharply on the rise – with Millennials craving more time with their busy families, could you offer the opportunity for this?
- Previously, gay men and women travelled to get away, hide, and ‘be who they are’. With increased acceptance among friends and family, where do they fit into the Millennials’ travel plans. Multi-generational travel in the travel industry at large is sharply on the rise – with Millennials craving more time with their busy families, could you offer the opportunity for this?
- As we’ve seen, Millennials are a generation looking for support, guidance and reassurance. Is it the job of a holiday company to give them that? Perhaps not directly, but you HAVE to show that you understand their world.