Millennial Traveller is the Travel Agent’s New Favorite Type of Client

It might come across as counterintuitive, but millennials are the most likely to use travel agents. Recent studies such as the MMGY Global 2014 Portrait of the American Traveler confirm something that was known for quite some time. Millennial travelers, the most online generation of travelers, are the ones who are most likely to make use of the services offered by travel agents. Since the generation comprises the most knowledgeable consumers, it simply turns to the experts for curating assistance so that they get the most out of their investments.

Making use of travel agents is just the tip of the iceberg for millennial travelers. According to the study, millennials also plan to travel a lot more. Statistics show that close to 61% of millennials are planning to take a trip in the first half of 2015, with the figure hovering around 54% in the year 2014. When asked about the reasons behind using travel agents, most of these millennials mentioned that choosing the right experts when it came to travel services and destinations always made sense for anyone wanting a better and more enriched experience.

According to Alexa Bermudez, a travel consultant from California, millennial travelers do a lot of research and are well aware of the kind of trip they’re looking forward to. Thus, by the time they come in contact with travel agents, they’re simply looking for the details to be ironed out and searching for expert suggestions, which help in making their trips unique. There is an increased demand for ethnic and local as well. Most millennials prefer things that allow them to feel in unison with the environment they’re visiting and sample the local flavor. This is what millennials depend on travel agencies for.

To keep up with the ever-increasing demand generated by millennials, travel agents need to ensure that they have access to the right tools and solutions which let them match their customer’s tech-savvy lifestyles and offer them the right technologies to be able to respond to the queries within time.

Rey Alton, a leisure marketing director from Houston, also confirmed that millennial travelers are looking for off-the-beaten-path and adventure experiences. This means that they are more than likely to choose personalized and specially crafted vacations rather than general holidays. And this is another aspect where travel agents become really important. A travel agent with the right expertise and knowledge can direct these millennials towards unique activities and attractions that are bound to excite them, thereby making their travel experiences better.

Another thing that many millennial travelers look forward to is sustainability. It is not something that they would mention initially, but travel agents whose models are centered around specially crafted experiences that offer something unique and feature local meals and accommodations, have always been preferred.

With millennial travelers spending close to $200 billion on travel, travel agents would want to ensure that they manage to grab a slice of the cake. In order to do that, a travel agent needs to focus on things such as customer service, specialization, offering unique and localized experiences, getting social, and keeping up with the changes in travel technology.