There are many things said about millennials, the generation coming of age. But one thing that's rarely noted is that half of them are married with children.
This fact should matter to destination marketing organizations, travel websites and apps, and other trade companies. To craft effective digital marketing campaigns, it's important to get the message right. Rather than acting like kids, millennials are, as often as not, raising kids.
So much for the all-purpose stereotype of a carefree, single person who typically brings a selfie-stick with them while hiking Machu Picchu and couchsurfing.
About 57% of American millennials who traveled last year were married and 54% had children, according to a new survey by Resonance, a destination marketing consultancy in Vancouver.
The survey of 1,189 people ages 18 to 34 was done online in November 2014 by pollster Insights West.
Respondents were screened to only include ones with annual household incomes of $35,000 or higher and who said they had traveled at least 75 miles from home in the past year. The data was weighted by gender and region, according to US Census data. A sample like this is considered accurate within +/-2.8%, or 19 times out of 20.
Key stats
American millennial travelers tend to take 4.2 trips a year on average, slightly more than the 3.5 for all American travelers as a whole. But their trips tend to be briefer, and cheaper.
They spend an average of $888 per vacation versus an average of $1,347 for U.S. travelers overall.
However, about 29% of millennial travelers have household incomes of between $100,000 and $150,000, and this group takes vacations with an average ticket price of $969, according to the survey.
A significant percentage of millennials with children (37%) also plan to vacation with friends, which suggests about a third of millennial families are planning vacations together as a group.
So rather than make broad generalizations about a generation, direct marketing organizations may want to group millennial travelers into categories based on whether they have families, how adventurous they are destination-wise and experience-wise, and how much money they are willing to spend on travel.
One out of three family travelers are willing to consider renting a house or villa and one in four are willing to consider renting an apartment or condo -- higher than millennials as a group, and higher than other demographics of travelers.
Compared to all travelers, millennial travelers --with and without families -- are much more likely to use owner-direct accommodation services, such as Airbnb and HomeAway.
Here's another fun fact:
While millennials participate in most types of activities at the same or higher levels than other age groups, sightseeing is one activity they enjoy less: 51% of millennials say this is something they regularly enjoy while on vacation versus 61% of middle age and 62% of senior travelers.
Here's yet further proof that marketers will obviously want to vary their pitches, depending on who their product or destination will most appeal to.
MORE INSIGHTS:
Millennials overtake Generation X in vacation spending, says a US 2014 survey
How millennials are changing travel: 2014
Millennials actually more interested in luxury hotel services than Boomers [INFOGRAPHIC, 2014]