Millennials are so old right now

Find the money and follow it. This was the message to come out of Roy Morgan Research this morning.

Releasing its State of the Nation report this morning in Sydney, with a particular zoom into the travel industry, ceo Michele Levine identified the trends of the industry, and pointed to where the money is hiding.

While millennials are all the rage and the buzz word of the moment, but this is not who’s spending, Levine says.

“Australia as a nation is growing and ageing, and as the Baby Boomers turn 65 and over, that’s the group that’s going to be growing fastest, and that’s the group with the greatest wealth and spending power,” Levine said.

“It’s not like an ageing economy where everyone is getting old and frail and staying home, the middle age economy is where the wealth is going to be.”

“Follow the dollars and understand the people behind them.”

Similarly, executive chairman Gary Morgan had a similar message for those in the business of tourism.

“If you’re in the game of travel you’ve got to look at who spends the money,” he said.

Looking, then, at who spends the big dollars, there are a few key markets where the wealth is hiding.

“When you look at something like a $65 billion spend in Australia, what we see is that the big dollars are coming from ‘visible achievers’ and ‘socially aware’, so those two segments represent a big chunk,” Levine said.

But Levine also pointed out that the travel groups dominated by youth spend an average of $10 billion all up, insisting that’s not where to chase the dollars, despite marketing so often being centred on this group.

“The youngsters are not spending,” Levine said.

Traditional family life, the older, the retirees, and the real conservatism market are coming off as winners for agents looking to make the most of their bookings.

“Where I’d be looking is that very conservative, small group in society, that’s now moved into the kind of Baby Boomer, retired [market],” Levine added.

“What’s important about them is not their size, it’s the amount they spend. They’re very conservative but they’re spending more than any other group on any one of their holidays.

“Do not underestimate the value of that older audience, they’re not old and decrepit, they’re older and spending money in their retirement.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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