How to Effectively Capture Today’s 18-to-35-Year-Old Market

Many agents say to me, “Oh Contiki – you target the niche youth market.” My answer is always the same: “Is one-third of the population (over 100 million people) considered a niche?

The observation I get is, “Young people book through the Internet only.” Not true. They research on the Internet, but with complex packages like an escorted tour, which includes multiple hotels, sights and even countries in some cases, they want to speak with someone. Think about honeymoon clients. How many young people book their complete honeymoon online?

As an industry, we need to embrace the youth market as the automobile and retail industries have done very successfully. If you are not in the 18-to-35-year-old market and do not understand them, here are a few facts that make them different from the youth of years ago:

They are culturally diverse. One out of three youths considers himself or herself non-Caucasian.

They use technology in daily life. This includes multiple email accounts; IM (instant messaging); text messaging; social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace and Friendster; and You Tube.

How, then, can an agent target the youth market?

Look at your existing client database. Do they have children or grandchildren? Give them a Contiki Holidays brochure.

Is your message relevant? On a limited budget, students want to maximize their experience. Short on vacation time, young professionals want to travel with others their own age. And couples are interested in designing memorable trips with built-in flexibility.

Always promote traveling to young people. As we all know, travel changes people’s lives, as it introduces us to new places, new people, new cultures and new experiences. As travel experts, we not only need to embrace this but also to promote it to all – especially to young people, who most likely have not traveled much on their own. You will create lifelong travel clients when you show your true knowledge, service and expertise.

For new prospects, use testimonials of past youth clients. If you have existing clients who have kids or grandkids, give them a Contiki brochure and let them know you were thinking of them and that this product would be a perfect fit for their loved ones. It has the freedom and flexibility that younger people are looking for, and they will be traveling with others their own age. Once you have one young client, you can share his or her story with other clients who have family members in this age bracket.

Create your own profile and travel group on social networking sites. Start discussions about travel from a travel expert and offer your knowledge and services. Set up links from your profile and travel group page to your website. Post pictures from your clients’ trips and references from them. Focus on the service you provide.

Let technology work for you versus fearing it. Suggest that your clients, young and old, who are only researching, check out You Tube and type in Contiki to view past travelers’ videos, so they can see what the trip is really like. Once they book, refer them to the Contiki website message boards, where they can meet other travelers on their tours before they go. The key is to focus on relationship building and the services that you provide as a travel expert. But use technology tools to your advantage to help close the sale.

Graduation gift – an iPod or life changing experience? With high school and college graduations upon us soon, many family members are trying to decide what to give as gifts. Why give an iPod when they can give a true life experience such as travel?

Talk about the hassle-free nature of packaged tours. Traveling with Contiki is hassle free. Everything is taken care of, including hotel accommodations, transportation, breakfast, most dinners and sightseeing. But clients still have plenty of free time to experience the destination on their own.