“In addressing the question about which market is more important – Baby Boomers versus Millennials – the travel industry needs to take into account lifestyle factors that impact both markets. For Boomers these include: greater longevity due to improvements in health care juxtaposed with chronic health problems that are being exacerbated by unhealthy lifestyles. For the Millennial generation, higher birth rates (particularly in China where the government has ditched its one-child policy), as well as ever diverse needs and desires will come into play. Millennials are also likely to have longer working lives – either as a result of increases to statutory retirement age or due to financial necessity.”
Travel and tourism enterprises, national and global tourism organisations and travel brands commonly categorise the travelling public by age. Travel and tourism analysis also frequently focuses on this demographic. Although terminology varies, these subgroups are typically: Generation Z; Millennials; Generation X; Baby Boomers; and Seniors. Further segmentation within these groups includes: older and younger Millennials, and older and younger Baby Boomers, as well as business travellers, family travellers, group travellers and solo travellers.
This report focuses on two of the most influential cohorts of travellers currently active in the travel and tourism industry – Baby Boomers and Millennials; with the former being the post-World War II generation born between 1946 and 1964. Millennial, meanwhile, is the label that is often applied to anyone born between 1981 and 1996.
Mid-year population estimates for 2017 show that there are currently around 1.3 billion Baby Boomers and 1.8 billion Millennials worldwide. While not all of these engage in international travel, they venture overseas in their millions every year for manifold reasons. Both cohorts of travellers are diverse groups with divergent travel preferences and desires. As the Baby-Boomer generation grows older, some analysts have started to ask which group is more important to the global travel industry.
The more immediate questions, though, relate to why both Baby Boomers and Millennials will remain pivotal players in the travel and tourism industry in the short to medium term, how and why the needs of both travel segments will continue to evolve, and how both of these sectors will shape the travel industry over the next 20 years.
This report also looks at the following areas:
Who are the Baby Boomer and Millennial travellers?
What are the holiday preferences of the Baby Boomer and Millennial sectors?
How do these divergent generational groups use technology and social media within the travel and tourism arena?
What impact are disruptive models of travel and tourism having on Baby Boomers and Millennials?
What does the future look like for Baby Boomer and Millennial travellers?
How can travel and tourism enterprises meet the needs of both the Baby Boomer and Millennial generation?
