Northstar

16 | www.travelweekly-asia.com HOSPITALITY The millennials, those between the ages of 25 and 34 years, were widely celebrated as the next group of "power players" at the recent HotelsWorld Conference in Sydney. According to a report by Euromonitor International on Emerging Guest Trends, the millennials have high expectations of personalisation and connections. "The millennials will expect to be acknowledged through their journey. They are used to having it their way and being able to customise and adjust products to their liking," said Erika Sirimanne, business development consultant of Euromonitor International. According to Sirimanne, millennials are more emotional when it comes to brand loyalty and those brands that give them the ability to customise their experiences will win. Not surprisingly, this group is also highly connected digitally. "They have an immersive, reciprocal relationship with social networking channels – they are twice as likely to read reviews online," said Sirimanne. As such, her advice is to engage with them in digital conversations and to connect with them where they are. "Give them something to talk about," she added. While seeking luxury, millennials are more interested in low-touch- luxury. They want to remain independent, asking for help only when needed. And they expect free but impeccable wireless networks and services. Millennials tend to book spontaneously and within a week of travel. They are likely to make their bookings on mobile devices. Therefore, advertisers should target AND THEY KNOW WHAT THEY WANT, AND HOW THEY LIKE TO TRAVEL TAKE NOTE: MILLENNIALS ARE THE NEXT POWER PLAYERS this group of impulsive bookers. The report also presented other emerging guest trends. Not just the millenials, but the majority of travellers are now considered London's Clink78 hostel. Free independent travel continues to climb even among the traditional group travel countries like China. hyperconnected travellers. In Australia, 74% of those surveyed had smart phones; 40% had tablets; and four percent had smart watches. Almost 70% of travel bookings were made through a website; while 58% of bookings were made either through a mobile application, or a mobile-optimised website. Wearable technology was also moving upwards, away from passive devices to more autonomous devices such as the Apple Watch, or the Samsung Gear. By next year, autonomous wearable devices will become mainstream, said Sirimanne. Free independent travel continues to climb even among the traditional group travel countries like China. According to Euromonitor, Chinese independent holiday visitors accounted for 27% of all Chinese tourists in New Zealand, up from 20% a year ago. Personalised travel is another emerging trend, and here, the aviation industry is leading the way as it is paying attention to mapping the entire passenger journey, said Sirimanne. From mobile check-in, beacons and wearable boarding passes before the journey; to on- board wi-fi, bring your own device plans during the journey; and finally, smart gates, bag tracking and on- board, in-destination services. On the accommodation front, hostels are making a bid for the cost-conscious but style-seeking consumer by glamourising their properties to compete with boutique hotels. Some examples Sirimanne cited were Clink 78 in London, and Melbourne's Space Hotel. IN OUR AUGUST ISSUE of Travel Weekly Asia, there was a spelling mistake on page 5. Anthony Rippingale's name is rightly spelt `Rippingale' and not `Rippingdale'. We apologise for the error.

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