If 2022 was the year of revenge travel, then 2023 is travel’s villain era. According to data, not only do people plan to take more trips in 2023 than 2022, they also plan to spend more money on travel than they did last year. While this is clearly a boon for travel apps, as they say: “a rising tide lifts all boats”. With spring break and the busy summer travel season just around the corner, learn how you can market your app to capitalize on the surge in travel, even if your app doesn’t provide a travel-related service.
You read that right — “set-jetting,” not to be confused with “jet-setting” — is a rising trend in the travel sector. Set-jetting is the act of making travel destination decisions based on a favorite TV show or Hollywood film. In the content cacophony of our media streaming landscape, it seems like there’s always a new binge-worthy series to stream. This has given rise to entertainment-based tourism with travelers setting their sights on specific destinations based on shows like The White Lotus, Yellowstone, and Emily in Paris. According to a recently released report by American Express Travel, 70% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers say they have "been inspired to travel to a destination after seeing it featured on a TV show, news source, or movie." How can you market your app to capitalize on this trend?
According to the American Express Travel report, 84% of Gen Z-ers and Millennials surveyed would rather take a dream vacation than purchase a new luxury item. Furthermore, 79% of individuals in these generations agree that travel is an important budget priority.
The takeaway?
If your brand caters to Gen Z and/or Millennials, then your marketing campaigns should leverage travel-related creatives and messaging.
{For a compromise guide on how to advertise to Gen Z based on the latest mobile usage trends, read our recent blog here.}
Travelers are planning their trips earlier than ever before. Also according to the American Express Travel report, 7 in 10 respondents said they were likely to book trips 3 to 6 months in advance of their plans.
A majority of respondents were also looking to book longer-term travel, especially with the ongoing rise of digital nomadism. According to Upwork, 36.2 million Americans will work remotely by 2025. This is double the amount of remote workers during pre-pandemic times (16.8 million). With remote work a common practice following the pandemic, many people are blending work with adventure and extending their travel plans even longer.
Today, according to Nomad List, digital nomads are 44% women, 40% non-white, and an average of 33 years old. They work a variety of jobs in the knowledge economy, from marketing, UI/UX design and product management to software development.
This year, travelers are more focused on planning trips fueled by wellness, self-care and food tourism. That said, they’re interested in going outside the box. According to Hotels.com (owned by Expedia) 53% of US travelers in search of wellness activities want something exciting and new. In other words, people aren’t just looking for another yoga retreat but are curious to try new and, possibly, obscure activities like forest bathing (also known as sylvotherapy), foraging, fruit harvesting, and beekeeping. What’s more, according to the American Express Travel report, in addition to “set-jetting,” there’s been a renewed emphasis on self-care and wellness travel this year.
According to data, not only do people plan to take more trips in 2023 than 2022, they also plan to spend more money on travel. Market your app by capitalizing on this boom in travel.
With the busy summer travel season on the horizon, it's time to market your app with travel-related messaging. Reach out to our team to get started.