Millennial consumers represent a significant portion of the travel and tourism market, according to MMGY Global’s Portrait of American Travelers Report, though overall tourism growth is expected to slow in 2019.

Travelers plan on spending the same amount for vacations this year as they did the year prior, an average of $4,300 per household. For travel brands and travel agents, marketing to the consumer segment with the most propensity to convert is essential. Targeting Millennials may be the way to go this year.

Millennials Present Travel Opportunity For 2019

MMGY Global Director of Market Research, Anna Blount, noted that Millennial families are “the biggest travel opportunity,” as their average holiday spend is set to rise by 19% this year while other generations, like Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, are projected spend by 3% less. This is the second year of projected growth in Millennial travel spending.

Cruises And Group Tours Appeal To Millennial Travelers

When it comes to travel preferences, Millennials are seeking out luxury cruises, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) who recently released their 2018 Cruise Travel Report. 70% of Millennials “definitely will” book a cruise for their next trips, an increase from 63% last year.

Group tours are another travel product that interests Millennials. In fact, 47% of Millennial families plan on attending group tours on vacation. “That’s way higher than the overall population,” said Blount.

Millennials Seek Travel Agents And Go Digital For Vacation Planning

Altogether, Millennials are in favor of using travel agents. But Millennial families, in specific, gravitate to travel agency service. In the MMGY Global report, 51% of Millennial families said they intend to use travel agents, while 12% of Millennial couples and 16% of Millennial singles said they would.

Undeniably, Millennials turn to search engines for their holiday planning, as search engines held the top two spots for all four steps of the vacation planning process (Ideas/Inspiration, Advice/Ratings, Compare Features/Pricing and Making Reservations), according to MMGY Global’s report. Google was the top search engine used by Millennials searching for travel plans. For Millennial families, other top travel sites included Expedia, TripAdvisor, Hotels.com and Trivago. “The power of search remains,” said Blount.

Across the travel industry – from travel agents and tour groups to cruise lines and travel sites – Millennials show incredible potential to keep the travel industry alive and well in 2019.

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