Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the travel motivations, perceived benefits of travel, and the utility of travel mediums among US millennials. Design/methodology/approach In order to further examine the homogeneity of millennial travelers, millennials were put into two subgroups based on their age and annual income. Data were collected in multiple phases, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. Findings Results revealed that several significant differences exist between the proposed millennial subgroups, labeled “young and free millennials” and “professional millennials.” Research limitations/implications Implications from this study include direction for both tourism marketers and destination suppliers based on the differences and perceptions of both groups and suggest millennials are not a homogeneous market. Originality/value Millennials are far from being part of a homogenous cohort. Therefore, the current study sought to examine differences in the benefits received from travel and the primary reasons to travel among distinct millennial segments.
Highlights
Due to an increasingly competitive travel environment, today’s tourists expect and demand diversity in both the settings and activities perceived to be inherent to a destination (Chung et al, 2015)
The categorization process resulted in 11 themes related to primary travel motivations among millennials: hedonic interests, visiting friends and family, escape/memories, education/ sightseeing, rest/relaxation, novelty/adventure, business/status, leisure/recreation, selfexploration/evaluation, escape, NA and None
For “young and free millennials,” the travel motivations most often mentioned by respondents included: hedonic interests, visiting friends and family, NA, and escape/memories
Summary
Due to an increasingly competitive travel environment, today’s tourists expect and demand diversity in both the settings and activities perceived to be inherent to a destination (Chung et al, 2015). Researchers and journalists have recently shown an increasing interest in and deference to the millennial generation (Garikapati et al, 2016; Zeng and Gerritsen, 2014) This perceived millennial influence or “power” is a result of two interrelated factors: purchase power and population size. With over 80 million “members,” millennials make up more than a quarter of the population of the USA, which makes it the largest of the recognized generations (Fromm et al, 2015). Due to their growing impact on society, millennials could be suggested to be an excellent primary market for many destinations. The current study sought to examine differences in the benefits received from travel and the primary reasons to travel among distinct millennial segments
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