Younger European travelers are interacting with travel brands in these two ways
Innovation in travel is making the greater population more tech-savvy, and it's no surprise that those aged 18-34 are leading the charge with adoption.
1. Use of assistants, messaging, chatbots
According to Phocuswright Research, younger European travelers - who make up nearly 40% of the entire European traveler population - are most likely to be frequent users of voice-activated personal assistants and chatbots. More than four in 10 European online travelers used a voice assistant or chatbot at least weekly in the past 12 months.
Messaging and voice assistants have a range of possible travel applications, from travel planning to in-destination services and sharing. Roughly half of European travelers would be comfortable with using messaging to compare and choose travel products, contact a hotel desk or get local recommendations. This growth is largely driven by the younger travelers.
2. Social's role in sharing and influencing decisions
Younger European travelers are also paving the way with visual social sharing - they're four times as likely to use visual social networks than travelers 35-54. Not only are young travelers using social apps - such as Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest - to share experiences, they are the preferred platform for staying up-to-date with favorite brands.
In the decision-making process, pictures and videos by friends and travel brands on social media are now just as influential as travel reviews for 18-34 year olds. Brands are also capturing travelers' attention through ads: two in five social media users don't mind sponsored posts on their social feeds - as long as they're relevant, which is good news for travel marketers.
What does this mean for the future of online travel and consumer behavior in Europe? Learn more at Phocuswright Europe (May 15-17, 2018 in Amsterdam), the annual meeting place for European industry leaders who demand valuable answers, facts and solutions.
ABOUT PHOCUSWRIGHT INC.
Phocuswright is the travel industry research authority on how travelers, suppliers and intermediaries connect. Independent, rigorous and unbiased, Phocuswright fosters smart strategic planning, tactical decision-making and organizational effectiveness.
Phocuswright delivers qualitative and quantitative research on the evolving dynamics that influence travel, tourism and hospitality distribution. Our marketplace intelligence is the industry standard for segmentation, sizing, forecasting, trends, analysis and consumer travel planning behavior. Every day around the world, senior executives, marketers, strategists and research professionals from all segments of the industry value chain use Phocuswright research for competitive advantage.
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Phocuswright is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northstar Travel Media, LLC. (116 32nd Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10001 United States). www.phocuswright.com
ABOUT NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Northstar Travel Group is the leading provider of business-to-business news, information, data, transactions and custom content solutions for the travel, meetings and hospitality industries. Brands under the Northstar umbrella include Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly China, Travel Weekly Asia, TravelAge West, Business Travel News, Phocuswright, Meetings & Conventions, M&C China, Web in Travel and Inntopia. Northstar is the industry leader in marketing solutions, custom content communications, content licensing and database management serving the travel and meetings industries. The company produces more than 52 face-to-face events, taking place in North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Northstar is based in Secaucus, NJ, and is a portfolio company of EagleTree Capital. www.northstartravelgroup.com
