TO SUCCESSFULLY woo this generation, travel companies must recognise a new breed of traveller and what they expect from their reward programmes, says a new report.
In The Grand Wanderluster, reward and loyalty programme technology provider Collinson Latitude outlines the characteristics of The Grand Wanderluster, a new class of traveller spawned by the digital boom.
Members of The Grand Wanderluster generation are defined not by age or gender but instead by their behaviours, characteristics and interests, and reward programmes are key to cultivating and retaining brand loyalty.
“The current accessibility and mass availability of travel means that traditional demographic based approaches to audience segmentation are a thing of the past,” said James Berry, e-commerce director at Collinson Latitude, which is part of The Collinson Group.
“Travel brands need to reinvent how they engage with the Grand Wanderluster generation or risk losing them to the competition.”
The report further breaks down The Grand Wanderluster into six separate personas based on their priorities during travel and advises how to attract each group.
The Aspirationals are today’s reinvented frequent flyers who want quick and easy online redemption. Travel brands should find out and offer rewards relevant to their interests.
The Balancers, believers of work-life balance, want the most value from their choices. To win them over, communicate more with a variety of non-travel related rewards.
Family-oriented Nesters will pay attention to online awards and redemptions that can be used to enhance family holidays, and communication is key for them.
Fourth, combine a personal touch and rewards featuring the diversity of activities they enjoy to get through to the high-earning Safeguarders.
The On-demanders are the career-oriented looking for instant gratification. Travel brands should make their reward programmes device-friendly and let them choose their own reward categories, including luxury products.
Lastly, the sceptical and disinterested Individualists are rarely the target of travel brands, reaching out to and giving them more ways to earn and redeem rewards is the first step to bringing them on board.
Research for this study was conducted by Vanson Bourne in October 2014, using a sample of 4,000 consumers from the UK, US, Middle East and Singapore.
