I continue with a multi-part series about Americans’ travel habits, with the general trend following the stereotype of being an overworked group.
Similar to the results from the last post regarding how 80% of U.S. travelers haven’t gone abroad in the past year, here is another trend in Rafat Ali’s articles: 42% of American haven’t taken any vacation days in the past year.
This rather alarming finding could reflect several trends. One is the continuing recovering but still sluggish economy. Many Americans feel that they cannot take vacation when they need to pay for life’s necessities, such as rent or mortgage, food and utilities. Most people’s paychecks don’t stretch as far as they used to.
Another development could be employers simply failing to offer vacation days in the first place. Or if they do, they make work obligations so rigid and discouraged, employees – your potential travel audience – feel they can’t take time off.
Whatever the reasons nearly half of the Americans surveyed aren’t going on vacation, Ali’s analysis of the numbers bear a closer look:
- Only 15.1% of people took 20 or more vacations days in 2014
- Women took no vacation days more than men.
- Younger adults overall took fewer days off than older adults
- People in the West took more time off than people from the South
- Suburbanites go on vacation more than urban or rural dwellers.
Many of these results are not surprising, but they still serve as a strong reminder of where and how you can focus your adventure travel marketing efforts. Here are some strategies that may address this plight of the overworked American:
1.) Solve their pain
The biggest thing that you can do with your marketing campaigns is to provide a solution to their biggest problem. In relation to these stats, that’s simply being stressed out and frazzled by working too much. Remember to emphasize emotions and benefits over features. So instead of saying “We have fifteen different bike tours to choose from,” write something like this: “Imagine speeding through the Wine Country and feel your stress melt away.”
2.) Encourage women to take the initiative
While the difference between men and women not taking vacation days was not statistically significant, it is enough to take into consideration for marketing plans. You can focus your efforts on creating a message for women to encourage their significant others as well as themselves to take some much-deserved time off. Include plenty of visuals showing a couple having fun in your offered vacation packages. Again, use language that appeals to their overworked sensibilities. You may want to incorporate messages to take vacations as a family.
3.) Tap into the millennial market
Plenty of marketing websites and publications have mentioned the millennial market, which is roughly defined as those born between 1980 and 2004. These are young adults who are likely burning themselves out on their careers…if they aren’t quite in one yet, trying to find their place in the world. Your marketing could this demographic by emphasizing eco-friendly policies, if your company prioritizes them. If you have a service or volunteer component to your trips, highlight that feature in your materials.
I'll finish up my post series with one more takeaway set to help you market to the overworked American worker.
What kind of marketing can you do today that takes advantage of these findings about fewer Americans going abroad? Share your thoughts below!
The post Travel trends: Marketing to the overworked American, part 2 appeared first on Schultze Copywriting.