Gen Z Is Influencing Hotels to Rethink Strategies: A Skift Deep Dive
Gen Z is poised to become the future of travel. So it's time to separate the hype from the reality. It's also time for hoteliers to level up their design and marketing games.
Too many hoteliers are waiting for Generation Z — the cohort born roughly between 1997 and 2012 — to get more spending power. But they shouldn’t wait. The savviest hotel brands are already preparing for the post-millennial demographic’s rise.
This deep dive will investigate the factors likely to remain part of Gen Z long-term. We expect next-generation travelers to shed some youthful traits as they become parents or otherwise expand their lives. So we’re only interested in their traits that will last over time.
Everything you think you know about millennials? Concentrate it tenfold, and you get Gen Z. Other generations are a continuum, but the millennial-to-Gen-Z span is a cliff. The next generation is completely detached from many old habits. Fred Lalonde, co-founder and CEO of Hopper, an online travel agency with an outsized share of Gen Z customers
The caricatures of Gen Z are well-known — and easily dismissed. So Skift spoke to experts and some Gen Zers themselves to paint a (hopefully) nuanced, sophisticated picture.
Most definitively, Gen Z grew up in an age of always-on broadband internet. That will likely mold their assumptions and expectations for years to come.
Another trait likely to define Gen Zers, even as they age, is a craving for community. Post-millennials are about twice as likely to say they feel lonely as Baby Boomers. That’s remarkable, given that youth is a peak time for socializing. So hoteliers can fill a hospitality gap by embracing these individuals as they are, welcoming them, and creating ways for them to connect.
Another theme: Gen Zers in many countries are likely to have a relatively low rate of independent living compared to earlier generations. The inadequate housing supply in many cities is a problem that won’t be solved overnight. As people in this demographic start families later or buy homes later, they may retain their lifestyle of owning less and experiencing more.
Yet another trait likely to endure is the post-millennial consciousness of the climate emergency. Gen Z is relatively the most exposed of all of us to the forecasted perils of the coming decades. Surveys suggest that this demographic cares more about sustainability than any past generation.
