How Affluent Millennials Are Changing Travel Planning

It used to be that travel experiences – day tours, activities, attraction tickets – came last. Whether it was London or St. Lucia, Hawaii or Italy,  the passion, the dream, was for the place.

The destination decision, the transportation and the accommodation – these always came first in the traveler planning process. All of the other stuff – the things to do – these were organized afterwards, often last minute, and even once the traveler arrived at the destination. 

This conventional understanding of the traveler path to purchase is changing, and younger travelers, especially affluent millennials, are leading the way. 

Younger affluent travelers – those ages 18-44 with annual household incomes of $150,000 or greater – represent 14% of all travelers. They are predominately millennials – currently aged 28-43, but also include Gen Z adults aged 18-27. 

And they are turning travel planning on its head. 

Experiences First, then Flights and Hotels… 

We’ve known for a while that passion-based travel is on the rise, however this latest research is shedding more light on who is driving that shift. 

Younger affluent travelers are almost twice as likely as all other travelers to say that their decision where to go is based largely or primarily on the experiences they wanted to do. Three in four said the tours, activities or attractions were a principal driver in the destination decision, vs. an average of 41% among all other travelers by age and income. 

These younger affluent travelers also do more tours and activities and visit more attractions when they travel. They spend substantially more, and they are much more likely to plan in advance. Some 59% of younger affluents say they plan and book all of their in-destination experiences in advance of travel, vs. just 25% of all other travelers. 

This represents a profound shift not just in traveler behavior, but in traveler psychology and motivations. From the perspective of a traveler, think of it like this:

From Where to Why: What This Means for Travel

The implications for the travel experiences sector – indeed for all of travel – are profound. 

• Experience operators must identify their customer segments, learn how to reach them, and inspire them to pursue their passion with them. 
• Destination marketers must focus less on filling hotel rooms and more on in-destination experiences that inspire travelers to visit (which will thereby fill those hotel rooms).
• Accommodation and transportation providers must incorporate experiences into their offerings and messaging to connect with those experience-first travelers.

Learn More About the Affluent Traveler

Learn more about these research findings and go deeper into insights and recommendations on affluent travelers and what they’re looking for with Arival’s full report on the Affluent Experiences Traveler. Available exclusively to Insider Pro Access members. 

The Affluent Experiences Traveler report is the latest in a series of reports based on Arival’s U.S. consumer research. Look for more reports and articles in this series, focusing on:

Also, join us for the next Arival event to learn more about what travelers are looking for and how to reach them, as we explore the latest travel trends, research results and experiences industry insights, with practical tips and takeaways for operators of tours, activities, attractions and experiences.

Become an Insider Pro Access member today and save 20% on Arival events. You also get access to the full library of Arival research, plus many other benefits such as free consulting sessions and special discounts from our partners, starting from $179 per year.

Header photo: Eating Europe