He then goes on to ask the questions about reaching the most important segments.

1.a. If you are thinking about focusing to reach the three most important target audiences for travel in Europe. What is the most important one to focus in 2011? And in 2015?

•  Boomers

•  20 – 30 single, couples, no kids

•  Families

This got me thinking – what about the next generation who is following on from the current Millenials. Having a pair of those in my life, I know they act very differently to each other and to the generations that have preceded them. 

Coincidently two studies on this group caught my eye. One that has received a lot of air and net time is the latest CDC study on Sex and the American individual. This highlighted that today’s teens are not as interested in sex as earlier. The number of teens who have not tried sex has fallen. In my local newspaper the Seattle Timeshttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2014386651_apuslesssex.html there was a great quote:

“It’s not even on my radar,” said 17-year-old Abbey King of Hinsdale, Ill., a competitive swimmer who starts her day at 5a.m. and falls into bed at 10:30p.m. after swimming, school, weight lifting, running, more swimming, homework and a volunteer gig working with service dogs for the disabled.

The other study is from eMarketer and Ipsos. The Study is entitled: Media Usage and Shopping Habits of Teens.http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008263 Delving into teen behavior is important to see how they will act when they hit the marketplace as adults. The clear message is that this generation is Tech Savvy and very Social. The definition of Social is far broader than existed in other generations. Their lust for technology seems to accelerate every year. As one parent of a 4 year old told me – he was shocked to hear his child come home from nursery school head to her computer and announce – “I am sorry Daddy no time for videos, I have home work to do on my computer.” Remember that this is the generation whom Time Magazine predicts will become immortal effective 2045. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html

The social internet is similarly indispensable. More than four in five teens will use social networks this year, eMarketer estimates, compared to 64% of all internet users. Nearly three-quarters of teens will use Facebook monthly this year, according to eMarketer, and Ipsos Public Affairs <http://www.ipsos.com>  found in 2010 that over 50% visited the site daily. 

In my view this number is under-reporting the impact. I asked a number of teenagers to try a little experiment to count the number of times they interacted with their mobile phone. The numbers were staggering to me but understandable. The teens I asked seemed to check their messages and interact with their phones more than 50 times a DAY! When I did the same thing myself I found that I too was checking my 3 mobile devices even more when I am travelling.

http://www.emarketer.com/images/chart_gifs/124001-125000/124837.gif

In their behavior online, it is different than their predecessors. The tend to eschew email and prefer the messaging systems in Facebook and of course texting. They all seem to suffer ADD which will likely drive more iCommerce (Instant Commerce and Flash sales) type activity. Web browsing is not something that grabs their attention. Wikipedia is their trusted source, despite all the exhortations while in High School that Wikipedia is not to be regarded as a quotable source – it remains one of the first places for Teen search for hard information. But not nearly as trusted as from their friends and social network.

But perhaps one trend that is critical to the future is the need for validation. I believe that this is one trend that will transcend through their early adulthood into maturity. This generation will seek validation more than any other. This will be important in purchase and in researching options especially in travel.

The message for travel marketers is clear. Engagement with your community better be real and it better be deep. That means content cannot be allowed to get stale. Information must be reliable and your apps better be really fast. Or else you face the ultimate ignominy – you will be ignored.

With special thanks to Valyn Perini for coming up with the title of this piece.