This media release from AMEX just touches the surface of data from their latest reports The American Express Future of Travel and The American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, but contains some interesting information nonetheless.
Such as:
- Millennials are more optimistic than Boomers, and more of them plan to travel frequently (52.8% vs. 32.1%) and spend more money on travel (58.% vs. 41.3%) in the next 5 years.
- 89% of Millennials say that the value of personal service is irreplaceable.
And four myths about Millennials debunked:
- "Millennials won't use a travel agent." But nearly 60% said they're willing to pay for an agent's expertise, and 92.4% of those who've used an agent said it enhanced their travel experience.
- "Millennials have different needs than their parents." But 76.3% said they prefer to stay in traditional hotels, and 46% of both generations agreed that better in-room technology is their favorite hotel trend.
- "Millennials want customization." Although nearly 70% said they'd put in the effort to customize a trip rather than buy a package, 58.7% said they'd buy a package if it were cheaper.
- "Millennials want to live in the moment while traveling." Although three-quarters of respondents agreed with this, 54.9% said they feel it's their duty to post reviews for the benefit of others, and 25.8% said they spend too much time with social media while traveling.
The "Future of Travel" data were collected from 1007 traveling US consumers in May-June 2015, while the "Spending and Saving" data were collected from 2000 random US adults (including some from an affluent demographic with $100K+ annual HHI) in April-May 2016.
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Travel agents, hoteliers and tour operators should be happy with those results, for sure.
- David
