The development of “always-on” culture changes vacations, and millennials seem to suffer from it the most. Many of them leave their vacation days on the table, and “vacation shaming” (a growing trend when colleagues or bosses make a person feel guilty about taking a vacation) is another reason why more and more millennials prefer not to leave their jobs for a long time. This makes vacations shorter and more frequent.
According to a recent survey, 60% of travelers have taken “bleisure” trips. Around a third of these travelers added a couple of days to their business trips, and more than a half of respondents, who have taken these trips, took their family members with them. Naturally, hotels have reacted quickly and started offering new services for bleisure guests, for example, special classes for children who travel with their working parents.
Millennials like the idea of combining work and rest because this is a budget friendly way to explore new places. As a rule, an employer covers the cost of flight for at least one traveler. Road trips have also become very popular recently. Younger travelers find them cheaper, and more fun as it is simple to document and share such vacations on social media. Naturally, hotels along major highways embrace the new trend.
Even during vacations, many millennials are obliged to be accessible by their clients or colleagues. Those, who can disconnect from work, still want to keep in touch with their friends and family via social networks, so Wi-Fi becomes a must and a standard for most of travelers. Many hotels adjust their strategies and launch new programs that can strengthen their relationships with guests. For example, Hilton runs Twitter account where they read guest recommendations, and Marriott has “M Live” team that scans posts of hotel guests from around the world, so they can quickly respond to issues or offer surprise rewards for guests who share photos from Marriott hotels.