AIRLINE NEWS FEATURE / ROUND TABLE
By Raadia Mukadam
WHY TOUR OPERATORS & CURATORS SHARE A LOVE - HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH MILLENNIAL TRAVELLERS
3 leading tour operators, Arun Raghu of Travel.Earth, Sahil Wahid of Revel Travel Links Pvt Ltd and Bhawna Rao of Encompass are explained their game plan to woo the very fast growing yet elusive segment of travellers
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illennial travellers have often been called lazy and entitled with extremely demanding travel needs, but try as you might, this growing segment of travellers have been estimated by experts to take close to 320 million trips in 2020. Millennials travel needs and habits are very different from the yesteryear travellers as they are driving new trends by opting out of predictable fixed itineraries in favour of activities and new experiences. With their numbers and importance continuing to rise, the millennials are perceived today
as the most sought-after demographic in terms of marketing. In an honest to heart chat with three leading tour operators, Raadia Mukadam got together with Mr. Arun Raghu, Co-Founder, Travel. Earth, Mr. Sahil Wahid, Director, Revel Travel Links Pvt Ltd and Ms. Bhawna Rao, Founder & Curator in Chief, Encompass, to understand why they share a love –hate relationship with this fast growing segment of travellers and what is their game plan to woo the very fast growing yet elusive segment of travellers. Excerpts. Mr. Arun Raghu
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February 2020 Tourism India
What has been the growth of the millennial travel segment in the last five years and How much market share do you see them commanding in the next five years? Arun Raghu: The millennial travel market has emerged to be one of the most distinct, compared to other consumer bases. According to Travel Professional news in 2017, 87% of millennials look to social media for their next travel experience. Social media has played a significant role in millennial travel trends. Over the last 5 years, the annual global travel has been increasing on a yearly basis. Below is the global outbound travel data with the market expense for the last five years. Year Volume Value (In Million) (In Trillion) 2014 1.33 $1.41 2015 1.39 $1.35 2016 1.47 $1.37 2017 1.56 $1.45 Bhawna Rao: Millennials, the young breed of adults born between 1980s and mid 90s are here to stay! The words that come to your mind when you think of millennials is often ‘technology driv-
