Millennial Generation Outbound Travel Market, the Case of Oporto

Abstract

In Europe, short city breaks are popular. Tourism is characterized by shorter and more frequent trips, spaced throughout the year, lower spending per tourist and making use of low cost airlines. We witnessed a democratization of the use of air transport, traveling who cannot afford this activity in the past and increasing travel the frequency of those who have travelled. This change in travel habits affect the travel industry and hospitality. Oporto is currently one of Europe’s tourist destinations with the highest growth, which is due mainly to increased demand from tourists for city breaks. Recognition is generally as shown in the Lonely Planet magazine that indicated Oporto as the fourth best European destination in 2012. The city of Oporto was considered the best European destination of 2017 by the site “European Best Destinations”. Oporto Airport is located only 11 km from the city center. It is the second airport in the country in passenger traffic, only surpassed by Lisbon. Low-cost airlines reduce the annual seasonality of tourist demand in the region. More tourists directly and indirectly stimulate activity, particularly by generating spillovers and other positive externalities. The internet has exploded with a plethora of online sites that directly sell travel and tourism services and products to consumers. ‘Millennials’ are a large market segment who apparently have special characteristics such as the desire for authentic cultural experiences and who use technology intensively. The objective of this work is to answer a set of questions related with young people of the Oporto region in their travels. Do they travel more often? How do they behave as tourists? Do they take advantage of a low cost carriers hub? Do they also travel in off-peak periods? The data collection method for the study was the questionnaire inquiry. The inquiry contained 22 questions, the majority of them of multiple choice. 140 valid surveys were randomly collected. The presence of a low cost carrier hub has as a consequence that young people from Oporto are traveling and using the plane. The Internet is the favourite method for organizing the trip. The type of tourism preferred are sun and sea and cultural tourism. Increased seasonality in people traveling with friends than in the case of family travel. Positive correlations for airplane and heritage. Positive correlation for airplane and travel in the winter.