Why is attracting Millennial travellers so crucial for hotels?
Millennials are the generation born between 1980-2000. They represent the largest generation to date with more than 92 million people born in the US alone within this period. Statistics show that 86% of millennials travel to experience a new culture and 49% book last-minute vacations. The behaviours that have been associated with this generation are; they are social, connected with the world and have a strong online presence.
Here are some trends that you can implement in your hotel to attract millennial travellers:
Personalisation is key
Travel brands such as Booking.com, Expedia and Trivaggo have already caught on that the most successful way to attract the millennial generation is through personalisation. They are engaging with millennials and giving them elements of choice, such as using personalised emails, asking specific questions based on the customers' preferences. This generation wants to be wowed and feel special. This makes online personalisation the key to attracting them. As millennials would rather avoid human interactions, it is best to have online personalisation elements. This is due to the fact that they want to have things resolved at a faster pace. To find out how you can personalise your hotel website, read our tips on personalisation here.
Loyalty programs are a hit amongst millennials
Millennials are a generation of value hunters. Statistics show that 68% of millennials are most loyal, to the program where they have the most rewards accumulated. The top reward categories amongst Millennials are; cash, freebies, upgrades, extra amenities and discounts. The important fact about Millennials and loyalty programs is that 75% will remain loyal to a hotel brand, even if they have lost all their reward points. So making sure your hotel has a loyalty program is a guaranteed way of attracting millennials.
Introducing your guests to local favourites
A study shows that 78% of millennials want to learn something whilst travelling and as mentioned previously 86% travel to experience culture. Incorporating culture and learning is something that can be easily implemented in hotels. You can do so by for example asking your employees to share their favourite local places in the city/area where your hotel is located. From the information, you have gathered, create a guide of the city. You can either place the guide in the room in a printed form or also make this guide more socially conscious and create a hotel app where your local favourites guide is in. This guide should highlight local food, art or even area tours to local breweries. Hotels who offer out of the box recommendations and tips which make their vacation an experience are the hotels who will most appeal to millennial travellers.
Mobile matters
This is an issue we here at Hotelchamp have touched upon in a previous post, but we would like to highlight it again. 86% of millennials are disappointed with hotels, who lack mobile responsiveness on their websites. As a hotelier, you must prioritize making your hotel website mobile-friendly. To discover the benefits of having a mobile-friendly website and how you can do, read further here.
Make it Instagram worthy
Instagram is the fastest-growing social network and shows no signs of slowing down. This year, 700 million people are on Instagram and 51% of those users are active daily. 50% of Instagram users follow at least one business and 60% of the users have stated they learn about a product or services on the platform. This platform is twice the size of Twitter and on its way to reaching the billion club alongside Facebook. You can create your own account for your hotel, and post high-quality images regularly. You should make one employee in charge of posting content regularly on the account. Consistency is the key to success on this platform.
Hiring an "Influencer"
If you have an account on Instagram, which you already consistently post on. Then the next step to making your Instagram popular amongst millennials is to hire an influencer to promote your hotel. On Instagram, big and small businesses are using “Influencers” to promote their product or service.
Influencers are Instagram users who have established credibility within the platform and a large audience of dedicated followers. They can persuade others by showing their trustworthiness and authenticity.
Hiring an Instagram influencer to take a picture in your Hotel, is also an option that will put your Hotel out there, on millennial’s “feeds”. You can also go to a website to hire an influencer. There are various websites, where you can do so, but our top three picks are Influenz, Whalar, and Indahash. We, of course, recommend for you to first shop around and search for the influencer who best fits your hotel image.
Reinventing menus and room service
Most hotels are still stuck in their ways, serving room service on silver room service trays with silver domes. Which is not something that appeals to this generation. Millennials are not looking for traditional hotel room service, but much rather have an out of the box service. This can be something like for example on-the-go room service that has environmentally friendly packaging. Another crucial thing for the millennial generation is to adapt the menu as there is a high tendency of millennials, being vegans.
Concluding, don't forget to include Millennials in your hotel strategy! This generation represents a significant opportunity for your hotel!
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