Three Critical Travel Marketing Trends To Be Aware Of In 2015!

Tourism marketing, or destination marketing, like most industries is constantly changing. Many of our clients are DMOs, so we’re always looking to stay on top of what’s new in the travel and leisure world of marketing.

I just returned from the annual Visit California Outlook Forum, the must see event for all things tourism marketing. Boy was it intriguing.

This two-day conference was jam packed with seminars and research on how to connect with the right audiences and get them to engage your brand.

It’s taken a couple weeks to digest it all (I’m still digesting) and while I can’t possibly share everything with you right now, I feel obligated to share what I found to be perhaps the 3 most important insights from the conference.

FOMO Marketing – Do You Have The Fear?

Now you might ask yourself, what is FOMO? I never heard of it either, but once I did I realized I have been suffering from it for years.

Let me share. Have you ever heard or seen an ad and felt like if you didn’t take advantage now, you were going to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime?

That’s FOMO – the Fear Of Missing Out marketing. And if you’re marketing to millennials – and you should be – then you need to understand this marketing trend that connects with them big time.

On day one we focused on marketing research and trends for 2015 and this was the big one for millennial travel. With FOMO being an issue for this generation, we are anticipating this demo will find whatever means necessary to go on trips with friends just so they don’t ‘miss out’ on the fun.

So when marketing to this group, think about using words and phrases that taps into that emotion of fear, and ignites the fear of missing out, like:

Don’t you wish you were here…
Imagine this is you…
There simply isn’t anything like it in the world…

Everyone’s looking for the best way to connect with Millennials and if you’re in the travel industry, this is one of the most powerful ways to make them take notice.

Bleisure Marketing – Is It Business Or Pleasure?

Another growing trend is Bleisure travel. Another first for me.

You know when you tell someone your going out of town for a few days and they ask you, “Oh, cool. Business or pleasure?” You can simply say, “Bleisure.”

Bleisure is a blend of business and leisure and highly prevalent with millennials and Gen Y travelers. This trend will lead to incremental revenue in the tourism industry and will be encouraged by employers for their staff to make a vacation out of their business travel.

It’s another great opportunity to tap into the millennial market. By highlighting the opportunities for business travellers to extend their business trips for a little R&R, you can plant the seed for future growth.

Multigenerational Marketing – Everyone Loves To Travel!

Lastly, the travel marketing trend that I personally love most… multigenerational travellers.

I will admit I am one of those Gen Y travelers and raising a family takes a toll on the ol’ purse strings. Fortunately, my parents plan a yearly family vacation, which of course includes them, my husband and I and our two kids.

This trend is growing rapidly. In fact, 91% of millennials surveyed said they intend to take a multigenerational vacation every year – starting within the next year! Wow!

The best part is 35% of those surveyed said their grandparents are footing the bill. Lucky us!

With more and more families looking for ways to spend time together, multigenerational vacation packages are a great way to grab their attention and get them on board.

Stay Tuned…

So there you have it. Those are just three of the many travel-marketing trends we will be watching this year. To learn more and keep up to date watch for monthly tourism blog posts highlighting all we have learned from this amazing forum.

If you have questions about how Verdin can help your DMO better connect with your audience, call us at 805-541-9005 or contact us here.

Tourism marketing, or destination marketing, like most industries is constantly changing. Many of our clients are DMOs, so we’re always looking to stay on top of what’s new in the travel and leisure world of marketing.

I just returned from the annual Visit California Outlook Forum, the must see event for all things tourism marketing. Boy was it intriguing.

This two-day conference was jam packed with seminars and research on how to connect with the right audiences and get them to engage your brand.

It’s taken a couple weeks to digest it all (I’m still digesting) and while I can’t possibly share everything with you right now, I feel obligated to share what I found to be perhaps the 3 most important insights from the conference.

FOMO Marketing – Do You Have The Fear?

Now you might ask yourself, what is FOMO? I never heard of it either, but once I did I realized I have been suffering from it for years.

Let me share. Have you ever heard or seen an ad and felt like if you didn’t take advantage now, you were going to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime?

That’s FOMO – the Fear Of Missing Out marketing. And if you’re marketing to millennials – and you should be – then you need to understand this marketing trend that connects with them big time.

On day one we focused on marketing research and trends for 2015 and this was the big one for millennial travel. With FOMO being an issue for this generation, we are anticipating this demo will find whatever means necessary to go on trips with friends just so they don’t ‘miss out’ on the fun.

So when marketing to this group, think about using words and phrases that taps into that emotion of fear, and ignites the fear of missing out, like:

Don’t you wish you were here…

Imagine this is you…

There simply isn’t anything like it in the world…

Everyone’s looking for the best way to connect with Millennials and if you’re in the travel industry, this is one of the most powerful ways to make them take notice.

Bleisure Marketing – Is It Business Or Pleasure?

Another growing trend is Bleisure travel. Another first for me.

You know when you tell someone your going out of town for a few days and they ask you, “Oh, cool. Business or pleasure?” You can simply say, “Bleisure.”

Bleisure is a blend of business and leisure and highly prevalent with millennials and Gen Y travelers. This trend will lead to incremental revenue in the tourism industry and will be encouraged by employers for their staff to make a vacation out of their business travel.

It’s another great opportunity to tap into the millennial market. By highlighting the opportunities for business travellers to extend their business trips for a little R&R, you can plant the seed for future growth.

Multigenerational Marketing – Everyone Loves To Travel!

Lastly, the travel marketing trend that I personally love most… multigenerational travellers.

I will admit I am one of those Gen Y travelers and raising a family takes a toll on the ol’ purse strings. Fortunately, my parents plan a yearly family vacation, which of course includes them, my husband and I and our two kids.

This trend is growing rapidly. In fact, 91% of millennials surveyed said they intend to take a multigenerational vacation every year – starting within the next year! Wow!

The best part is 35% of those surveyed said their grandparents are footing the bill. Lucky us!

With more and more families looking for ways to spend time together, multigenerational vacation packages are a great way to grab their attention and get them on board.

Stay Tuned…

So there you have it. Those are just three of the many travel-marketing trends we will be watching this year. To learn more and keep up to date watch for monthly tourism blog posts highlighting all we have learned from this amazing forum.

If you have questions about how Verdin can help your DMO better connect with your audience, call us at 805-541-9005 or contact us here.