Skift Take

The experiential travel that millennials and other younger people crave may be best provided by professionals, not booking tools.

Whether you are a home-based travel advisor or you work in a large office servicing high-profile accounts, the Travel Advisor Innovation Report will have you covered with the trends, news, and features you’ll need to stay on top of an ever-changing marketplace.

The notion that younger travelers are more comfortable booking online and less likely to consult a travel advisor than their elders is a common assumption. A survey from Travelport, however, finds just the opposite. The survey, which polled 23,000 people from 20 countries, found that 50 percent of the millennial respondents nearly always turn to travel professionals for recommendations, while just 20 percent of Gen Xers and 8 percent of baby boomers said they do.

The survey also reported growing frustration among travelers with online booking, owing to the increasing complexity and available options. Another factor boding well for travel advisors is the growing preference, especially among younger travelers, for the kind of personal experiences not easily arranged without guidance from an expert.

For more coverage of pertinent issues, click here.

Any suggestions for the coverage you would like to see are welcome. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

— Maria Lenhart, Travel Advisor Editor

Featured Stories

Who Loves Travel Advisors the Most? It’s Millennials, Not Boomers: Emerging destinations and changes in travel style are fueling a need for human interaction in the travel planning process among younger generations. Companies would be wise not to neglect the human element instead of betting the bank on booking and personalization technology alone.

Battling Executive Burnout in the 24/7 Travel Business: Burnout is everywhere in our precarious global economy, but it’s especially pronounced in the travel and hospitality industry. Knowing the reasons why can help prevent it from taking over.

Sustainability

Can Luxury and Green Travel Comfortably Co-Exist? As conferences like ILTM get larger — and concepts like luxury and sustainability infiltrate more sectors and price points of the travel industry — it can start to feel like the overuse of these terms is a red flag of sorts.

Managing a Wolf Sanctuary Means Animals, Not Visitors, Are the Boss: Tourists are welcome to visit Wolf Haven International in Washington state, but the needs of the sanctuary’s residents — which include two species of wolves, wolf-dogs, and coyotes — are always prioritized. The sanctuary’s co-manager Pamela Maciel Cabañas is devoted to making sure that happens.

Business Travel

Business Travelers With Disabilities Face a Pervasive Lack of Accessibility: Despite the growing number of people with disabilities in the United States, it’s still a challenge to find clear information about accessibility while traveling. This may make traveling so difficult for employees with disabilities that many choose to do it as little as possible.

Online Travel

What Does Online Travel Really Mean by a ‘Connected Trip’? Creating the connected trip means online travel agencies will have to become high-powered, tech-first, traditional travel agencies. It sounds cool but probably isn’t feasible without major upheaval across the global travel market.

The Rise and Fall of Mark Okerstrom as Expedia CEO: Mark Okerstrom’s time as CEO of Expedia Group ended abruptly after merely two years. Here’s a recap of Okerstrom’s tenure and why executive chairman and investor Barry Diller felt Okerstrom failed to keep an eye on the ball.

Amazon Adds Bus tickets in India in Pursuit of Superapp Strategy: Slowly but surely Amazon is building up a considerable travel presence in India via its app. How deep and far will it eventually decide to go?

Lodging

Why Oyo and Rivals May Not Be the Answer for Unchained Hotels in Asia: More than ever before, small independent hotels in Asia are in need of distribution and revenue management solutions. But Oyo and other budget hotel chains aren’t necessarily the ones that will be throwing them that lifeline.

Skift Travel Advisor Editor Maria Lenhart [[email protected]] curates the Skift Travel Advisor Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send her an email.

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Tags: climate change, lodging, online travel, sustainability, travel advisor innovation report, travel agents

Photo credit: Pictured is the Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort. Younger travelers are turning to travel agents for trip-planning. Minor Hotels

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