There was lots of speculation over the resiliency of group travel during the pandemic, with the consensus amongst travel professionals being that the segment would bounce back.
However, questions remained as to how group travel would evolve in light of the pandemic and how the growing market of Gen Z travellers would contribute to trends in the group travel segment.
StudentUniverse—a Flight Centre Travel Group company—decided to find answers to some of these questions and conducted a survey of Gen Z travellers in the US to get their insights on group travel.
One of the things it discovered was that close to 90% of survey respondents indicated they would likely expect discounts for travelling with a group, with 53% indicating they absolutely expect discounts.
While that may not come as a surprise—considering the general thinking around group travel is the ability to divide costs of certain experiences amongst groups—what these insights mean for companies offering group travel is that advertising those savings to Gen Z is going to be a critical factor in attracting these travellers.
StudentUniverse also discovered that 54% of Gen Z travellers prefer that the price of the package offered reflects the entirety of the trip rather than having to pay separately for additional costs and fees. Presenting a package as an all-in-one-fee makes the decision easier for Gen Z travellers because they understand the full cost upfront and can budget accordingly.
As well, while most Gen Z travellers indicated they would prefer to plan their own group trips, 45% indicated they are open to working with a travel company that will plan their trip. Although most prefer these trips are planned for their own group or with a group of peers, Gen Z travelers are a ripe market for travel companies looking to attract younger travellers with group offerings.
The survey also found that Gen Z travellers are placing a high value on customer satisfaction and are seeking out travel companies with a track record of positive reviews and repeat customers.
In fact, when asked to rank the importance of a variety of considerations when considering booking with a travel company the factors that Gen Z travellers rated as very important include:
- Brand trust (68%)
- Good customer service (66%)
- Positive customer reviews (64%)
Good value for the money was another critical factor for these travellers and was ranked as very important by 68% of respondents.
Clearly, Gen Z travellers are taking the time to research the travel company they are considering booking with and are listening to insights from other travellers and their peers.
As for those factors that Gen Z travellers ranked as being of least importance were brand alignment with their own values and the ability to travel with like-minded individuals.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that brand values are not important to Gen Z, but given they are putting an emphasis on spending their dollars with companies that are providing a high level of customer satisfaction indicates they are looking at the whole package. Essentially, they want to travel with those who don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk.
For more, go to www.studentuniverse.com
