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.
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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.