2 Foreword 3 Holiday Motivations 4 Travel Inspiration 7 Booking 12 Holiday Types 16 Put Offs 25 Social Sharing and Shunning 34 Conclusion 43 Contents Understanding the changing attitudes With thanks to 3 and behaviours of today’s travel consumer our contributors A turbulent start Wish you weren’t here? At eight&four we don’t just assume we know what people want; we ask them. We take an audience-frst approach to the Holidays are for relaxing, but the frst half of But hold up, don’t pack your bags just yet. As broad challenges our clients face and support 2019 has been anything but for the holiday chaotic as it has been for the travel industry, them in overcoming them. That’s the ethos industry. there is still one constant: we love holidays. behind this Generation Travel 2019 report. These are challenging times. Thomas Cook Hans Christen Andersen wrote “To travel is It’s an extensive piece of quantitative and has issued three proft warnings in less than to live,” and over a century later, that’s felt qualitative research, featuring a survey of a year, while EasyJet and Ryanair have both as keenly by British consumers as ever. We over 2,000 UK consumers, bolstered by a sufered huge losses and issued further haven’t suddenly stopped wanting to go number of in-depth interviews. It has revealed warnings of more to come. And tragedy on holiday. And for many, it is more than some interesting and surprising results, struck twice, with two fatal Boeing 737 Max something they just want – it’s a need. particularly about diferences between crashes within a fve-month period, leading to generations, which will inform and enhance a worldwide grounding. There’s still a huge demand for travel, but it’s your marketing activities. a nuanced picture. We’re picky. We know what Then there’s the subject we all avoid at we want, and we will go somewhere else if The market has changed, and brands that Sunday lunch. Brexit. Are we in or out? And you can’t give it to us. In a crowded market, set themselves up to succeed are the ones what does that mean? Not just for day-to-day with ferce competition all trying to succeed that are prepared to change with it. Travel life but also which line we join at immigration. at the same thing, it’s more important than broadens the mind; this report will help the ever to truly understand your audiences travel industry to broaden its own mind to the As we wait for politicians to sort it out one way and act accordingly. You don’t have just one huge opportunities available. or the other, tourists are getting jittery and the audience. Brands that recognise this set travel industry is sufering. themselves up to succeed over their It’s time for a change of scene. competitors. It’s survival of the ft for purpose. An independent study of UK travel consumers commissioned by eight&four. The study was in feld from April to May 2019 and surveyed 2,003 consumers. Meanwhile, at home Brits lapped up the sunshine in the hottest summer on record last Age Groups Key year with many people choosing to stay at Gen Z 18-24 year olds home rather than head abroad. Young Millennials 25-34 year olds Amy McCulloch Older Millennials 35-44 year olds Managing Director Gen X 45-54 year olds eight&four Baby Boomers 55-64 year olds Traditionalists 65+ year olds Foreword Holiday Motivations 4 5 Chilling on the beach Culture vulturing You might expect Gen Z to be Snapchatting while clubbing their faces of. But half Beyond beaches, 25% of Brit holidaymakers choose destinations ofering culture (51%) just want to kick back and unplug with just 4% looking to party. with Gen X and older scoring particularly high (31%). Gen Z: “My biggest motivation for going on holiday is to get away from day-to-day But hold on to your stereotypes. Because we found that the youngest group and the life and relax.” oldest groups have the most in common. Almost a quarter (24%) of Gen Z stated that their main motivation for going on holiday is a cultural experience. It seems they’re It’s more of a complex picture with Young Millennials. With such a diverse set of more into taking shots than downing shots. interests, these consumers like to pack it in with high-energy holidays, ranging from adventure to parties and pints. Escaping their hectic day-to-day means enjoying out-of-the-ordinary experiences and cutting loose with friends. Only a ffth prioritise lazing on the beach above activities – instead they tend to hit the beach after a big day to enjoy the sunset. Takeout “With a busy commute and a hectic lifestyle, it’s great to catch up with friends by We spend a ridiculous amount of time daydreaming about holidays. But every- one’s daydream is diferent. It’s clear that there are some massive diferences going away. I like to mix between the generations. But our research reveals that it’s not as predictable “ as the stereotypes suggest. things up between relaxation and letting go and having a In many areas, older travellers have more in common with those who have only just stopped going on holiday with their parents. One size Speedo doesn’t ft all. good time. Young Millennial Top motivations for holidays 6 UK Consumers My biggest motivation for “going on holiday “ is to get away from day-to-day life and relax. Gen Z 39% 25% 11% Beach & Culture Celebration relaxation Top motivations for holidays Young Millennials 22% 16% 13% 12% 10% Beach & Culture Adventure Parties & Celebration relaxation & thrills entertainment Travel Inspiration 7 8 “Unsurprisingly, word of Where we go to Who do we trust? mouth and reviews still reign supreme. be inspired As we’ve already highlighted, a quarter of us are quite happy to take holiday advice from strangers via online reviews. We also listen to our friends and family, with more than a quarter (27%) of those below 45 taking recommendations from their mates, Anna Fawcett, Global Head of We all remember when, if you were interested in a holiday, you’d head to your who share their interests and budget. Marketing, Topdeck Travel local travel agents and let them handle it. Forget Expedia. Shopping around meant standing in front of a window full of cards with “Hot Deals” written in various faming While older travellers are pretty practical, know what they want and trust their own fonts. Times have changed. Holidaymakers are more savvy and take pride in their judgement, under 45s actively seek out inspiration. Their sources include booking ability to track down a great deal. But that doesn’t mean the high street travel agent sites (23% of Millennials), social media adverts and infuencers. is dead. Far from it. But while it’s natural to assume that all under 25s live through their phones and Today, holidaymakers are inspired by a variety of sources. Online reviews from would be most swayed by what they see online, digital isn’t the biggest infuence. sites such as TripAdvisor (26%), and TV programmes and movies (25%) are the most Just 9% of Gen Z cite social media adverts as a source of inspiration, as opposed to signifcant infuences across the generations. Even when we’re not actively looking, almost a quarter (23%) of Young Millennials, with the same disparity seen in relation we still notice exciting destinations. That said, a quarter of respondents said they to social media infuencers (Gen Z: 7%, Young Millennials: 20%). came up with their holiday ideas themselves. Meanwhile, although Gen Z aren’t tuning into their radios (2%), the infuence of radio adverts shot up among slightly older consumers (17% of Young Millennials). This is Gen X and Gen Z: possibly down to the growth in popularity of digital radio in that group. closer than you think So where do Gen Z get their inspiration? Not where you might think. 20% of these holidaymakers love a brochure. Not a fully integrated VR headset experience, but a physical brochure with pages made from paper, handed to them by a person, not It’s no surprise that those aged 45 and above were least likely to seek inspiration, Alexa. This is almost as much as the oldest age group (22%). In such a digitally driven with 34% relying on their own ideas. They’re experienced travellers and know world where you can pretty much take over a small country with your phone, maybe their Parthenon from their Pantheon. But almost a quarter (24%) of our least it’s nice to have a real brochure in your hands. experienced travellers, Gen Z, also said they relied on their own ideas. They identify as independent thinkers who are likely to make their own minds up and take pride in doing their own thing. Click here to watch video 01 Click here to watch video 02 9 “When it comes to inspiration, I would say I get most of mine from Instagram. I’m always looking. Even if I’m not actively looking, I always keep an eye out“ for the next best place to get inspired by. Young Millennial 10 Travel inspiration sources by generation Gen Z Young Millennials Older Millennials Gen X Baby Boomers Traditionalists 30%30% 20%20% 10%10% 0%0% Recommendations Infuencer & Online reviews Newspaper & Social media TV ads Travel agent Travel guides TV Travel booking Radio Usually have Usually go to from people I know bloggers mags online ads brochures programmes sites a good idea the same place & print & movies myself so don’t so no need look 11 Takeout “Brochures that are heavy on editorial content and storytelling can act as The bottom line is, there’s no one way to reach all holidaymakers, and it’s a mistake to lump all brand-builders and brand- ‘younger’ travellers into the same group.