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What are the biggest problems with the modern day travel planning?
The biggest problems with the modern day travel planning stem from too much information. Travelers have trouble deciding on a destination, worry about buying a travel package only to see the price drop later, and choosing which experiences to have once they reach their destination. Throughout the purchase path, there are many places where information overload inhibits a traveler's decision, making travel "a complex buying decision, and one travelers invest a significant amount of time in." What's more is that the purchase path is no longer linear because each traveler's experience feeds into the next traveler's decisions through social media and travel review sites.
Overall travel habits
For this brief, I focused specifically on Millennials' travel habits, but there are some interesting statistics regarding travelers in general as well, so I do provide some information regarding other generations in addition to Millennials. I also use sources from 2016 and 2017 as requested, but I also draw from a 2015 Deloitte study because it provides concrete statistics on a traveler's path to purchase that are still relevant to today's travel planner. The most recent study, the "How Americans Travel" study conducted by The American Society of Travel Agents, provides a look into how Millennials make their travel plans. To begin with, Millennials travel more than any other generation. The study found that 80% of Millennials have traveled for pleasure at least once in the past year. In 2016, Millennials took an average of 2.38 vacations compared with just 1.80 for Generation X and a minute 1.65 for Baby Boomers. To put this in perspective, this means the average Millennial takes 32% more vacations than the average Gen Xer and 44% more than the average Baby Boomer.
There are likely several factors that lead Millennials to travel more than their older counterparts, but the "How Americans Travel" study found that the main reason is that younger people travel so much is that "Millennials see vacation as an entitlement and a necessity. It is a way of life and part of life." A Nielson survey concurred, saying, "unlike older generations that historically may have traveled for work
or for special occasions like the annual family trip, Millennials are
untethered when it comes to getting away." Millennials are looking for unique experiences and traveling for pleasure ticks all the unique experience boxes.
In general, Millennials are looking to be in control of their travel plans. They will search extensively for the perfect "experience that fits their mood, interest and personality." If this means spending hours online examining and planning every aspect of a trip, then that's what they will do. They don't use travel agents nearly as much as other generations (38% compared with 49% of Gen Xers and 55% of Baby Boomers), mostly because they "take on the planning themselves" and only use travel agents to "get them access to things they cannot get on their own."
Millennials are also very price conscious when it comes to the logistics of travel, which is another reason they will search for hours for the right deal to come along. They would rather spend their money on the experiences of the trip than on transportation and lodging. The Neilson survey found that "Millennials often seek out low-cost flights and peer-to-peer accommodation sharing options instead of booking a hotel. By taking a budgeted approach to their travel and accommodations, Millennial travelers typically free up dollars that they can use on indulgences throughout their trips, including impulse buys and personal treats." This doesn't mean they aren't spending money, though, because they are. As this generation has grown up, "there has been a shift in recent years from seeing Millennials as low-spending backpackers and spring breakers into more serious international travelers." They are willing to spend money on travel, but would prefer to spend it on "more meaningful, off-the-radar travel experiences."
For this reason, Millennial use of travel agents is up, but only as advisers that " improve the quality of their travel experiences" rather than simply handle the logistics. Since Millennials are typically very tech savvy, they prefer to take care of the practical details of travel like transportation and lodging and let agents "organize tours, recommend activities, and to create custom experiences with exclusive perks." They are coming to travel agencies and saying, "I’m not coming here to book my airline ticket or book my hotel. Help me find the right things to do when I go to a particular destination." This shows that Millennials still have a DIY attitude toward travel, but they recognize when industry experts can provide them with experiences they may not be able to find without assistance.
What the research conducted during the "How Americans Travel" study revealed is that overall, Americans really like planning their travel, but this isn't exclusive to the United States. According to Expedia Media Solutions, British travelers spend "2.4 billion minutes engaging with digital travel content, which is a nearly 45 percent increase year-over-year." With the multitude of available digital tools travelers have at their fingertips, travelers are more inclined to begin their travel research on the Internet than ever before. In fact, a recent Deloitte study found that 59% of global travelers use the Internet at the beginning stages of planning to compare prices and research destinations. This number skyrockets to 68% when it comes to Millennials, who typically begin the process with more than two destinations in mind. This means that not only is the Internet being used to compare prices, but it's also beneficial for travelers who don't even know where they're headed. As such, this provides a significant opportunity for marketers to meet them at various decision points along the path to purchase.
PATH TO PURCHASE
As mentioned above, a majority of travelers begin their travel purchase path by researching the Internet. This is by far the favorite starting point for Millennials, with 68% of them jumping online when they first consider planning a trip. Millennials are also enamored with their mobile devices, as nearly "half of U.S. millennials use their smartphones or tablets while travel planning." Canadian Millennials have the highest percentage of mobile phone users when it comes to travel planning, at 66%, and they are more likely to use their tablets as well (62%). The overall percentage of British travelers using their mobile phone is smaller, at 28%, but as 49% of British Millennials show, "more users now engage with travel content on mobile than desktop devices, nearly 28 million versus 25 million, respectively." It is clear that travel marketers must provide mobile content if they are going to reach the new generation of travelers. A Bank of America survey found that almost "four in 10 American Millennials say they interact more with their smartphones than they do with loved ones, friends or co-workers," so it is not surprising they are using their mobile devices to plan their trips.
Millennials typically start their travel plans by finding inspiration from social media. Sojern found that "68% of Millennials find ideas for their trips on Facebook, and 60% of Millennials find ideas on Instagram." While the influence of social media decreases as Millennials get further along in the trip planning process, it is critical during the beginning stages, when it is used primarily "to source deals, read articles and blogs and search for destination inspiration." Millennials are use social media at this point in the purchase path to receive "sourcing advice and recommendations from family and friends as travelers are primarily using it to view travel pictures and videos from people they follow, to ask those close to them for insight on destinations that they’re considering and to share ideas with travel companions."
In addition to social media, Millennials will also use various travel sites to conduct research prior to making a destination decision and to eventually book their travel. Expedia found that in the UK, people visit an average of 120 sites during the research phase of the purchase path, but this is a relatively small number compared to travelers in the U.S., who visit 140 sites, and in Canada, who visit 160 sites. As for the activities travelers are engaged in when visiting these sites, 72% are researching destinations, 59% are comparing prices, 46% are searching for feedback and comments from previous travelers, 44% are booking their trips, 31% are researching travel agent options, and 17% are buying other travel-related items in preparation for their trip.
Like social media, search engines play a significant role in the early stages of the purchase path, with 68% of travelers using a search engine to research destinations. That percentage drops precipitously to just 8% when travelers get to the booking stage. When trip planners get to the booking stage, airline websites experience the highest usage at 36%, followed by online travel agencies (OTAs) at 31% and hotel sites at 23%. It is important to note, though, that while airline, OTA, and hotel websites increase their importance as the purchase path progresses, they are used consistently throughout the journey as well. That being said, travelers are now "more likely to be influenced by each other than buy content created by travel businesses." During the research stage, 42% of travel planners used review sites to help them make their decisions. This is compared to the 31% who used information direct from a travel company's website. Just 15% of travelers said they used deal-based websites during the research process, and only 13% said they used travel-guide websites. Accordingly, 59% of travelers were influenced by review websites compared to 39% who said they were influenced by a travel operator website and 31% who credited their friends and family.
When purchasing flights and hotels, the Sojern study showed that 59% of Millennials are likely to purchase their flights using their mobile device and 64% say they are likely to reserve their hotel room the same way. However, they will research extensively to ensure they are getting a good price. As mentioned above, they seek out low-cost flights and hotel accommodations so that they can save their money for meaningful experiences once they arrive at their destination. This doesn't mean they are most concerned with price, though, as "Millennials are the most apt of all American travelers to seek online travel-related information other than just pricing." Still, price is the primary consideration when choosing to book with a specific travel company, with 56% of all travelers citing price as the main driver in booking site selection. Other reasons travelers give for choosing a particular travel company include having done business with them in the past (47%), the company's reputation (38%), the amount of information given on a destination (32%), the level of customer service (22%), a promotion or special offer (18%), and a recommendation from another traveler (15%). As such, it is important for marketers to note that while ads and sales can lead to bookings, if the price isn't right, travelers will still go somewhere else.
For decades, the purchase path for travel essentially ended with flight and hotel bookings. The consumer would take their flight, stay in their hotel, and return home, thus completing the customer journey. However, what was once a linear process has evolved into a circular path where "each consumer's experience feeds into another consumer's decision process." Travel companies can no longer assume a customer is satisfied once a travel experience has ended. This is because a third of travel planners "have posted a travel-related review online and 16 percent have posted or discussed holiday experiences on social media." What's more is that this transformation isn't unique to Millennial travelers as "Baby Boomers are already almost as likely as Millennials to visit and be influenced by review sites, and are actually more likely to have contributed by writing a review." However, Millennials are still "more likely to be influenced by content on social media, and are also more likely to post travel-related experiences and photos." The important takeaway for marketers and travel companies here is that consumer touchpoints cannot end with the purchase of airline tickets, hotel accommodations, or visiting a unique destination, because either way, their experience is already influencing that of another traveler.
CHALLENGES
When examining the issues people, and Millennials in particular have with modern day travel planning, one pattern seems to appear, which is deciding where to go. By analyzing traveler responses to the TripAdvisor question, "what problems do you face while planning your trips," we can see that choosing a destination often causes information paralysis. For example, one contributor said, "My biggest problem is having so many places I want to see and not enough time to see them. It's hard to narrow down what to see on vacation. We want to see lots of things, but still have quality time at each place, so we really have to plan carefully so we don't feel overwhelmed or rushed." Another traveler responded, "Biggest problem, deciding which of the many places on my long list I want to [go to] next." Still a third wrote, "I do not generally have problems with trip planning itself. Aside from limited funds and time, my biggest issue is deciding where to go. There's (sic) more places I want to see than I have time and money for." And yet a fourth commenter said, "my biggest issue is being indecisive about where to go and having to make a decision."
Clearly, choosing where to go is the biggest issue facing travelers today. While many of the respondents also said money was an issue, which is why cost continues to be a factor in which company is used for booking, the primary concern for all travelers, but Millennials specifically, is deciding on a destination and the activities they will participate in when they arrive. This is why British travelers spend "2.4 million minutes engaging with digital travel content." It is also why "the average online travel booker visited travel sites more than 121 times during the 45-day path to purchase." According to Expedia, 54% of British online travel bookers have multiple destinations in mind when they begin the research process. Millennials also begin travel research with more than one destination under consideration, and even after they choose their final destination, they then face information overload on what to do when they get there.
Studies have found that choice overload plays a major role in decision paralysis when it comes to travel planning. One research project conducted by Purdue University discovered that "when presented with too many vacation choices (more than 22), many people become confused and end up picking nothing." Scientists have concluded that the main reason for this inability to choose stems from the fear of making the wrong choice, and with travel, the wrong decision can be costly. With the constantly changing prices online, travel planners not only worry about where they are going, but whether they're going to get the best price when they finally do decide to buy. For this reason, many travel sites have implemented a "best price guarantee" in an attempt to spur "people into making a purchasing decision, rather than wait."
While choosing a destination is the largest issue facing travel planners, it's not the only one, but what is obvious is that most of these problems stem from too much information. For instance, when people visit review sites to get opinions on travel companies, hotels, and destinations, they "have to read dozens of reviews about each place to figure out what it’s really like." This is why travelers "research on many sites, some by Googling, some by going to brands [they] know." The issue is compounded when people don't know exactly what they are looking for, because "unless your constraints are exactly defined (e.g. you know exactly what you want and where), you have a lot of research to do." Furthermore, counter-intuitively, travel sites don't make it easy to plan a trip. Most travel websites "are optimized for conversion, not for planning" and even then, "tools for saving for later/sharing/comparing are generally not there. You resort to managing lists in Excel/Word/Google Doc etc. that you share over email with your co-traveler." As such, any startup travel business that "makes search better and anything that makes collection and sharing more effective is a step in the right direction."
Conclusion
The purchase path for travel planners comprises many steps, but essentially it starts with an idea (or several ideas in the case of Millennials), then moves into research, which can include studying reviews, asking for opinions from friends and family, and comparing prices. Once the extensive research phase is complete, travel planners transition to the booking phase, where they will buy transportation tickets, reserve hotel rooms, and purchase destination experiences. When travelers return from vacation, their purchase path flows into the next traveler's process when they post pictures and relate their experiences on social media and travel review sites. The biggest challenge faced by travel planners is deciding where to go and what to do when they get there, but other problems, like digging through reviews for relevant information and lack of planning tools on travel websites hamper the travel planning process as well.