State of Hospitality: Ask the Next Gen Traveler

This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers analyze the state and future of their industry. Read all the posts here.

For years the hospitality industry was focused on capturing the loyalty of the road warrior. He was a baby boomer and took many business trips a year, collecting hotel and airline points to cash in with his family for summer vacation.

Today we're focused on a new customer. Let's call her Jia.

Think of her as having just turned 30. She has scored a new job -- with her fifth employer. One of the best perks of her new job, as she sees it, is that it involves travel. A lot of travel. The best news for our industry is that Gen Y’s love to travel. She is part of a coming boom of Next Gen frequent travelers who already make up a quarter to a half of all travelers in the world’s major markets.

So, which companies win her loyalty?

Jia is not loyal, at least not in the same way as our prototypical road warrior. She doesn’t own her home or a car. She buys her groceries online from a site that chooses the freshest and cheapest products from different markets. She’s waited to make some big life decisions and isn’t sure she’ll ever decide on one person, one home or, maybe, one brand.

Millennials like Jia define “Service” as “Personalization” and they report far more willingness than older generations to allow access to their personal data when they feel they receive a tangible benefit in return. Global brands now have the advantage of collecting a tremendous amount of data on travelers. Jia expects that brands will know that she likes a room with a view, one that ends with her lucky number. She wants them to be as technologically-savvy as she is, so she can check-in and checkout with a single press of her thumb.

She’ll be skeptical about what we tell her she will like, but eager to hear from her friends about what they think she will like. That’s how Jia and her peers find their hotels and their brands. They share them. Almost 40 percent of U.S. millennial travelers will not book a hotel unless they’ve read user-generated content -- such as online reviews. To win her loyalty, we must be a part of that conversation. In other words, we need to act like a friend, not a supplier.

Another important thing to know about Jia: She cares if a company’s culture is rooted in ethical practices and a purpose beyond revenues. She wants to know that they’re creating jobs in Haiti and that everyday they’re operating business with due regard to our natural resources. She wants to know that when she books a room she can feel good about it.

The funny thing is I am 55 years old, but in many ways I'm more like Jia than the prototypical (maybe mythical) road warrior I described. My loyalty is won by companies who offer great experiences at fair prices. I am totally hooked by experiences that become special memories. I don’t want to be fussed over, just respected for who I am. I care about companies that do business the right way.

We are thrilled to hear that Jia is our future customer. We want to welcome her as a friend.

Arne Sorenson and Hilton’s CEO Chris Nassetta recently talked about the trends in hospitality at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

Want more insight about this industry? Follow our Hospitality channel.

Enjoyed this post? Read what other Influencers had to say:

• Paul Metselaar on the State of Business Travel: Bracing for the Boom After the Bust
• Adam Goldstein on the State of Cruising: Challenging Because "We Can't Hand Out Samples on the Street Corner"
• Maryann Keller on the State of Auto: Cars Now Signify Utility More Than Status

Photo: Marriott International
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