Credit: 123rf
CONTRARY to conventional assumptions that travel consultants are losing ground, especially among young adults in an era where entire trips can be booked on a smartphone, Millennials are engaging their services.
Steve Pirie, director of Sydney-based Unleashed Travel, which sends an average of 3,500 travellers from Australia and New Zealand overseas each year, said that’s because the first overseas experience is daunting for young travellers aged 17-25 years old.
“The youth market is growing exponentially at about 20 per cent each year,” said Pirie. “We pre-package everything; close to 99 per cent (of youth travellers) take up our tours.”
For instance, the Pacific islands such as Fiji was once favoured as destination for gap-year students in Australia, but these travellers are now casting their sights further afield.
Furthermore, the rising connectivity to Asia arising from the emergence of LCCs such as Scoot is making the region “a lot closer and more affordable than it used to be” for Australia’s youth travellers, added Pirie.
“The youth market is becoming more travel-savvy; they are now going to Bali, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand,” said Pirie.
As well, the Millennials are not simply relying on the sharing economy, remarked Pirie, who sees greater uptake of sharing economy providers like Airbnb only when the young adults reach 25 years old and gain more travel experience.
Lac Hong Voyages’ executive director Jonathan Tran is positive that agencies will remain relevant. “First-timers will still use package tours, especially if they are unfamiliar with Asia and don’t speak the local language. But for subsequent tours, they are likely to harness the power of the Internet,” he said.
