Young Australians tend to choose travel destinations very similar to those of their parents, despite their image as adventurous travellers, according to a new report released today.
The emmaTM (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) Travel Trends & Insights Report*, “The Road Well Travelled”, tracks Australian attitudes and behaviour towards travelling.
It found that although 77% of Generation Y’s say they like to experience new and exciting places, most who have travelled in the past year or intend to do so choose destinations with similar cultures and languages to their own. Their destination choices, in fact, mirror those of their Baby Boomer parents with the UK/Ireland, the US and New Zealand the top choices. Japan and Thailand are also on Gen Ys travel wish list.
Both Gen Y’s and Boomers agree that they prefer quite out of the way places, at 40% and 42% respectively, but they rarely go off the beaten track and prefer to travel in comfort. Both rank sight-seeing and the opportunity to relax and unwind as key travel priorities.
There are differences, however, in some of the travel choices of the different generations. A top priority for Baby Boomers, for example, is travel for pleasure, with the most popular options including sight-seeing holidays such as going on a cruise and touring by car. For Gen Y, it’s about more immersive experiences such as adventure and outdoor experiences, staying near the beach and a holiday for eating out. Gen Y’s are also 67% more likely than other Australian travellers to choose a holiday to experience the nightlife.
Travel is among the most heavily researched of all discretionary purchases and the most popular research options are online searches/advertising, advice from family and friends and travel or airline company websites. Boomers prefer to use newspapers for research, while Gen Y prefers social media.
“The idea of the adventurous young Australian traveller seems to be just that – an idea rather than the reality with the destinations they choose very similar to their parents’,” emma Executive Director Brian Hogan said.
“Similarities in preferred travel destinations mean that the travel industry needs to consider types of travellers rather than make assumptions solely based on age groups. To attract adventurous travellers, destinations and travel-related brands need to convey novelty and adventure experiences within the more conventional and popular destinations.
“To help advertisers target advertising to different travellers Ipsos has introduced new travel audience segments via the Eyeota Data Marketplace for the peak demand holiday season. These audience segments include attributes for travel type, airlines, destinations and attitudes and are available from all major media agencies.”
In other findings from the report, the price of holidays is a concern for Gen Y’s and Boomers, with 42% and 35% respectively agreeing that holidays are “too expensive these days”. This has contributed to the trend of self-managed holidays without the assistance of a travel agent. More than half of Gen Y’s (55%) will book all aspects of travel themselves and 46% of Boomers.
The full report can be found here: http://emma.com.au/the-road-well-travelled-emma-travel-report/#.WBZe-ZN95TY
* The report draws on data from emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) from August 2015 to July 2016 to explore the changing mindsets, preferences and behaviours of Australian adults towards travel. The sample of 30,289 was of all respondents aged 14+ who have travelled overseas within 12 months or intend to do so in the next 12 months. The emma survey is completed by 40,000+ each year and is accurately matched to total population across gender, location and demographic variables. Detailed responses are collected across all aspects of consumers’ behaviour online and offline.
