By Kuhelika Roy Choudhury
With changing times, destinations have also shifted their focus on technologies, authenticity, and sustainability to carve the niche of the future of tourism. To understand the new traveler’s choices better and dive into the world of millennials’ idea of travel, planning, and decoding the generation’s mark, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and News18 Networks recently organized the first edition of ‘SingapoReimagine Global Conversations’ last month and addressed the panel discussion ‘Decoding & Engaging Young, New Age Travelers’.
The panelists for the discussion were Varsha Patra, CEO & Co-founding Partner, Homegrown; Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head, Marketing, Service Quality, Innovation, and Value-Added Services, Thomas Cook India Group; Suchita Salwan, Founder & CEO of the Little Black Book; Fu Wei Fong, Head of National Tourism & Destination Marketing Organization Partnerships at Southeast Asia and Oceana, Klook.
Talking about the New-Age Travelers identity, Suchita defined millennials as the generation which is not limited to a specific identity with specific passion points, but they look for travel experiences that are mostly based on the ‘Look & Feel’ experiences. According to her, there are two important aspects for the new age travelers, one being the beauty of travel imperfections that the destinations offer and the other being the inclination toward future nostalgia.
When asked about the change in trends of the new-age traveler’s consumer market, Alapatt mentioned that in a country like India, 34% of the travel consumer market consists of the millennials, and the millennials are holding the pass now, therefore the idea of business and money lies here. He also added that from an economic perspective, the point which makes the millennials different from the previous generation is the fact that they are living in a world of plenty, with an interest in consuming now, experiencing now, and sharing now. According to him, post pandemic, the whole idea has shifted into mono destinations with a bigger depth with an intent of experiential fulfillment.
Fong mentioned drawing light on such four key trends that have occurred in the millennial’s way of travel, where the first one is the awareness towards wellness & mindful travel. This trend refers to the offbeat mindful travel experiences concerning wildlife, nature, and adventure or it can also refer to connecting with the local communities and cultures.
According to him, the second trend refers to the emergence of transfer options to unfamiliar destinations as well as safety, and hygiene, whereas millennials are also open and impulsive to risks. Fong mentioned that the third trend implies the emergence of the benefit of ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’, and therefore the stakeholders are to partner with certain intermediate payment platforms that would help cater the facility. The last trend would be the development of first person content, where the stakeholders start building relations with the new-age travelers when the millennials start navigating through familiar/unfamiliar experiences and gain confidence. He mentioned that the new–age traveler, when witnesses an authentic person enjoy a certain experience on any social platform, it tends to influence more rapidly. This is effectively done through social media channels these days which constitutes a significant trend in the current era.
When asked about the influence of social media in the new-age generation, Patra mentioned “social media constitutes one of the transformative mediums of information, with its own set of challenges. During the pandemic, the only way through which the generation stayed connected and discovered new things and similar interests with the virtue of social media. As people say, ‘If something is not documented or doesn’t have an imprint on social media, the thing never happened’, there lies the process of how the millennial generation connects to the communities, culture and discovers new ideas.”
In the post-covid scenario concerning tourism across the globe and considering revenge tourism, digital surveys indicate towards the splurge on huge trips by millennials in 2022. According to American Express Travel Global Travel Trends Report, 2022, four out of five (81%) overall respondents want to go where they can immerse themselves in the local culture, with Millennials ticking a bit higher (84%). Similarly, 81% of respondents want their money to go back to the local community, especially Millennials (83%). And nearly eight in ten (79%) of respondents said they are trying to be more purposeful in how they plan their trips and which companies they book with, with Millennials (83%) again coming in higher than the average.
Adding value to the above-mentioned figures, Abraham mentioned the fact that the pandemic has accelerated the desire for travel, after the imposition of the travel restrictions, the vaccination protocols, the visa challenges, etc. He says that the scenario we are seeing right now is slightly exaggerated and it has given rise to the curation of new global travel stories. People no longer just want to travel the world and get back with pictures like their parents, but they want an in-depth experience with a story. Suchita enlightened the viewpoint by adding that there is a happening of a micro trend forming a major global trend that lets the millennials stand out in terms of what new they can try out for an experience. According to her, the new-age travelers are seeking unfamiliarity in familiar destinations and making a story out of the experience, where the magic lies in the story-telling phenomenon that the millennials choose to experience.
