Why & How You Should Market Your Destination or Attraction to Millennials

As I reached the top of Helvellyn from the Striding Edge approach, I took a photo of my friends posing by the summit. As I smiled and checked the photo, I noticed another group. Their arms locked together, they smiled at small jokes they made as they all stared at the lakes below us. I took this photo and then approached them to ask if they would like a copy. They were three sisters with their mother. The mother is the lady in green who's glasses you can just make out. The way they face the view as she clings fondly to her daughters; this image will always remind me of family. — Photographer: Matt Heaton | Source: Unsplash

According to Pew, those born between 1981 and 1997 are now the largest generation (75.4 million people), and they travel more for both business and leisure than older generations. Traditional advertising campaigns had worked previously with older generations, but millennials are often leery of destination marketers, forcing businesses to adapt to non-traditional methods. While millennials might take more persuasion, it is not impossible. Keep reading to learn Why & How You Should Market Your Destination or Attraction to Millennials.

1. Get Social

It's no secret that millennials love social media, in fact, a study conducted by EMarketer had shown that 90% of millennials use social media. Almost every aspect of millennial's travel is shaped by social media. Whether its gathering travels inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram, to online reviews on specific spots and tours, to sharing their experiences on their own platforms. Social media is everything, and tour operators, attractions and any business tourism-related should be capitalizing on it. So how does a business get social online? Check out these examples:

• Targeted Facebook Ads
• User-Generated Content (Read more about it here)
• Sharing engaging & relatable content which includes
– Geofilters on Snapchat
– 360-degree videos
– Virtual Reality experiences
– Blogs, articles, etc

2. Make it Instagram Worthy

While sharing your own content is amazing, finding ways to encourage millennials to post and share their own experiences is even better. Again, read more about user-generated content here to understand just how useful UGC is. Also, we've written about being an insta-worthy attraction before, so check that out here. Here's the gist:

• Offer to take their photos for your customers
• Find nice spots that will provide a good looking photo
• Remind your guests to tag your account and use your hashtag

3. Look into "Bleisure"

Baby boomers are starting to retire or are so advanced in their careers that business trips are less common. Millennialls are now the driving force in business trips, and they like to take advantage of the travel opportunity. Millennials are more likely to buy flight upgrades during a business trip, and a more likely to extend their trip by a few days to turn it into a mini-vacation. Businesses in the tourism industry should encourage this behavior by inspiring them to visit your destination or attraction, and include messaging about extending business trips, adding activities to their itinerary and upgrading their experiences.

4. Encourage Loyalty

Unlike older generations, Millennials are more open to loyalty proframs in fact Expedia has said that 51% of millennials find loyalty programs important when they are booking hotel stays. Only 30% of baby boomers found loyalty programs important. By encouraging loyalty, DMO's and businesses can keep a connection with the customer and find ways to get these visitors to return. Offer a good enough loyalty program, and they'll be telling their friends and family as well.

5. Personalization

Millennials like being able to have an experience that can be catered to their interests! They are also searching for simple, and if something is already planned out for them then that is even better! To add personalization in try updating your website and content for easy booking, support, and information. Your business can also promote suggested itineraries featuring on-location & local experiences.

6. Be Authentic

Millennials do not want to feel like the stereotypical tourist. They crave authentic and local experiences. According to the Huffington Post, 86% of millennials would rather experience a new culture, compared to 44 percent who prefer to party or 28 percent who prefer shopping. Take this into consideration when trying to provide immersive experiences.

Millennials are expected to be the largest generation, surpassing even the Baby Boomers by 2028. They also have an estimated $200 billion of spending power, making their generation one to appeal to. At AAMP Agency | Adventure & Activity Marketing Pros, we are tourism & destination marketing experts. We specialize in digital marketing an understand just how important a successful marketing strategy is for your business. Contact us today for any questions or to start growing your business today.