Earlier this month Toposophy hosted a seminar at World Travel Market London which asked panelists from the tourism and marketing industries to name their ‘Six New Trends That Will Change the World’.

The panelists (Ian Cummings from Travel Massive, Sarah Betty Andrews from Business Betty and yours truly) submitted two trends each, and the audience was asked to vote at the end for the trend that convinced them the most. The winner took home a bottle of (cheap) champagne while the runners-up were each awarded with a can of beer (note: we hosted the session but didn’t choose the prizes!).

The remit was broad and the possibilities were endless, but I instantly knew which two trends, if taken seriously by the tourism industry do at least have the potential to change the way things are done, and hopefully win me that (cheap) champagne. I presented my two trends at the start:

1. From now on, the tourism industry will have to become Millennial-proof (me)
2. From now on, the tourism industry will have to recognise that not all Millennials are the same (me)
3. Video is going to be the king of content, while Snapchat will become the key influencer brand for travel (Ian).
4. Asia will become the biggest travel market in the world (Ian) – Editor: I think this is more ‘fact’ than ‘trend’
5. Space isn’t the new frontier in travel – but finding creative ways to get there will become the new frontier (Sarah-Betty)
6. Everything’s going to be live and online, all the time (Sarah-Betty)

Rather than read a ton of text about it, why not see for yourself how I argued my case?

Very often when people hear the word ‘Millennials’, their eyes glaze over and they start to wonder what’s really makes this generation so different from their parents. It’s a totally legitimate question to ask, and in a bid to separate the headlines from the really useful insights, I ask that question too. Essentially, it boils down to the fact that as digital natives, Millennials’ main screen is the mobile, they look first online whenever they need advice, news, gossip and reassurance or inspiration, and their expectations of what makes a rewarding experience have shifted slightly, dictated by the globalised, connected world that they grew up in.

I can say with some certainty that this can be said of all Millennials, regardless of where they grew up in the world, but my second major argument is that we should still be wary of treating Millennials as the same. Too often in the worlds of travel and marketing treat their audiences as ‘PLUs’, ie. ‘People Like Us’, assuming that they come from a similar socio-economic background, or that they all share a similar outlook on the world. With such enormous disparity in levels of economic development, education, freedom of speech and political climate around the world, how could that possibly be the case?

What was my advice for how to deal with this?

• Know that young people are very diverse. Their needs and tastes can change rapidly as they grow.
• Understand young peoples’ self-expression through consumption, especially in travel
• Look at wider consumer patterns and consider where your brand sits.
• Consider how Millennials from different outbound markets interact with you and each other.

If you’d like more inspiration then check out our free guide ‘How To Put Your Place On the Millennial Map (And Stay There)‘ or get in touch with us through @toposophy if you’d like to know more.

Oh, and if you’re wondering whose trend won the prize… I can confirm that the beer went down very nicely after a long day at WTM London!