Fully seven generations of travelers will be flying, cruising and touring in 2025, and knowing how to speak and sell to these disparate age groups is important for advisors.
This year, marking the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, is a significant one for the travel industry.
It’s a year when the Roman Catholic Church is celebrating a Jubilee, a once-in-25-years event that draws millions of pilgrims to Rome and Vatican City; when fans will flock to see the famed English band Oasis embark on Oasis Live ’25, the first time the Gallagher brothers will tour together in 15 years; and when Universal Orlando Resort opens its highly anticipated third theme park in Orlando: Epic Universe.
Quite remarkably, 2025 is also the first year when seven generations will be traveling at the same time.
According to the measure used by Virtuoso, those generations span from the matures, born between 1925 and 1945, to Generation Beta, born from 2025 to 2039.
While different sources define generational spans with varying measures, there is no denying that as life expectancy has increased and travel has become accessible to more people than ever, travelers today represent an incredibly diverse set of globetrotters.
For advisors, this presents challenges in how to best serve this clientele, especially if its members are traveling in multigenerational groups. But it also presents a great opportunity to understand the different cohorts and what makes them tick, making travel transactions easier for advisors and their clients.
Matures to Beta
Virtuoso looked to research partner YouGov to identify the seven generations traveling today, said executive vice president David Kolner.
In addition to matures and Generation Beta, they are baby boomers, born 1946 to 1964; Generation X, born 1965 to 1979; millennials, born 1980 to 1994; Generation Z, born 1995 to 2009; and Generation Alpha, born 2010 to 2024.
Kolner said the consortium has been tracking generations and their travel styles since before the pandemic.
“I think it’s a big factor in how people look at life, and it affects the advisor, it affects the partners, it affects everyone that’s in the system, not just the clients,” he said.
Generations are defined differently depending on the source. The Pew Research Center, for instance, revamped its analysis on generations in 2023 to rely less on standard labels, like millennial, and more on an age-based analysis.
At the Center for Generational Kinetics research group, generations are defined less by focusing on years and more on geography and external factors, said president and co-founder Jason Dorsey, who frequently likes to say that generations are “clues and not a box.”
“They’re a birth cohort divided by geography,” he said.
Or another way to think about generations is, “people who are born about the same time and raised about the same place — when did they start to behave differently than those born before or after?”
For instance, using that delineation criteria, 9/11 marked the end of millennials and the beginning of Generation Z. Dorsey said the cutoff birthday for someone to be considered a millennial would be 1996 or 1997, enabling them to remember the 2001 event. It’s likely the Covid pandemic will mark the end of Gen Z and the beginning of the next generation.
Another example Dorsey pointed to is the boomers, which Generational Kinetics defines as being born from 1946 to 1964. But there are large differences between the older boomers, raised in the 1950s, and the younger ones, raised in the 1970s.
No matter how they are defined, the travel industry is catering to a large swath of people with significant age gaps.
“I think the real trick — or the challenge — is to understand these big cohort groups and what they’re looking for, both in terms of generation and life stage, but still provide them the ability to be an individual,” Dorsey said.
For advisors, that means not making assumptions. Dorsey said that can be hard: People tend to sell and communicate in the ways they prefer and are used to, when they should instead put themselves in their client’s shoes.
“I think the key is to approach generations without judgment,” he said. “That’s something that I think is really important.”
‘I think the key is to approach generations without judgment. That’s something that I think is really important.’
The generational divide
Over her decadeslong tenure in the industry, Jacqueline Marks, global head of trade brands at ALG Vacations, has come to recognize the importance of understanding generational differences.
“There was a realization that the way we speak and the way we act and the way we engage has to evolve with the understanding that we are a very diverse, generational industry,” Marks said. “The more we know and the more we understand, the better we’re going to be at serving those clients as travel advisors.”
‘The way we speak, the way we act and the way we engage has to evolve with the understanding that we are a very diverse, generational industry.’
She views considering someone’s generational cohort as good business practice. Her own research indicates that Gen Zers and millennials are more likely to travel during the holidays than Gen Xers and boomers. Younger travelers are also more interested in traveling for events, as they did in droves for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
During a conference last summer, ALG Vacations invited generational expert and speaker Scott Zimmer to talk to advisors about generational understanding. He said the way clients grew up influences who they are today.
Generational expert Scott Zimmer presenting during an ALG Vacations conference for advisors last summer. (Courtesy of ALG Vacations)
For the advisors, Marks said, “It was an ‘aha!’ moment.”
Especially of interest was Zimmer’s take on communicating with clients the way they want to be communicated with. For instance, he said younger generations want to see things like emojis and exclamation points to denote more lighthearted messages, something older generations tend to shy away from.
“I think a lot of advisors said, ‘I need to realize that the way I send a message is a sales tool,’” Marks said. “It sounds crazy, but the way I use exclamation points and excitement and try to portray myself through communication to a younger traveler is going to change.”
Velia Kennedy, CEO and owner of Modern Family Travel in Pottstown, Pa., called the training “eye-opening” for her agency.
With multigenerational travel a big, and increasing, area of focus for her agency, learning how different generations communicate has been key, Kennedy said.
She now likes to have every traveler on a call when she’s planning for a large group. That enables her to get an understanding of all of their expectations, which vary greatly.
For the most diverse groups, Kennedy often recommends cruise ships or all-inclusive resorts because they offer a large range of activities. Planning that kind of trip is akin to putting together puzzle pieces, she said, trying to ensure that every member of the traveling party will be happy.
“It’s a lot of patience and a lot of listening,” Kennedy said.
‘With multigenerational trip-planning, it’s a lot of patience and a lot of listening.’
Lauren Doyle, president of the Travel Mechanic in Raleigh, N.C., agreed.
Her No. 1 advice for advisors planning multigenerational trips: “Be a good listener.” Doyle also advised getting the entire traveling party on a phone or video call and to then ask qualifying questions, including about who is paying for the trip, how old everyone is, dietary restrictions and mobility issues.
Nicole Mazza, chief marketing officer for American Marketing Group, said, “It really comes down to what advisors do best, and it’s listening — ensuring that they fully understand what their client is looking for.”
After planning many large, multigenerational groups for her family, Mazza said it’s important to know who the point person is, the type of travelers and what will make the family happy.
She advised choosing destinations with flexibility and choice, adding that a number of destination management companies have expertise in working with large groups of varied ages.
It’s also important to understand how much time the group wants to spend together, she said, and to be conscious of different budgets. Her family recently chartered a river cruise for an upcoming trip, and the group has multiple options for pre- and post-trip stays based on budget.
And multigen group business, like all group business, is something advisors should be looking to do more of, Mazza said.
“It’s a great way for advisors to earn more, to get more recommendations that are sent or referrals that are sent back to them,” she said. “It’s just a great segment of our business that advisors should be concentrating on.”
‘Multigen groups is a great segment of our business that advisors should be concentrating on.’
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