Why Travel Advisors Should Work to Appeal to Younger Travelers

My oldest daughter, Bella, just got back from a summer spent studying in England. It was an amazing experience for her, and she and her boyfriend (soon fiancé?) decided to spend a long weekend in Paris while he was visiting. Now, my daughter is a young woman who grew up with a phone in her hand and can find just about anything online in four seconds. So you would think putting together a few days in Paris would be no sweat, right?

It was not. She was completely turned around. How to get there, where to stay, what to actually do to make the most of their time. She did not want twenty open browser tabs and forty conflicting opinions. She wanted someone, anyone, to just handle it.

Well, spoiler alert, that someone was me.

I was glad to do it (comes with the Dad job). But it stuck with me afterward, because most 20-somethings do not have a parent like you or me who knows about these things and can offer easy help. They are staring at the same wall of tabs my daughter was, with nobody to call.

I think a lot of travel advisors in this industry have quietly written that whole generation off. Too young, too broke, too glued to their phones to ever want a human. This week I want to challenge that, because the data says we have it backwards.

The Number That Should Change How You See Your Next Client
Chase Travel recently surveyed more than 4,000 travelers, and 60% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers said they want to use a travel advisor. Not "would consider one." Want to. This is why we should never assume.

It makes sense when you think about it for a bit. This is a generation who has been sold to by an algorithm every waking minute of their lives. They can smell a fake review from a mile away. Some of them have already been burned by a too-good-to-be-true booking site. And they have learned that "the internet has all the answers" and "the internet gives me the right answer" are two very different things. When the trip actually matters, a study-abroad adventure, a first big trip as a couple, the friends' getaway everyone has been saving for, they want a real person who has actually been there.

Landing one 25-year-old opens the front door to a decade of trips. The honeymoon, the first anniversary, the babymoon, the milestone family trip once the budget grows up with them. Then add in the friend group that texts each other "wait, who did you use?" the second the photos hit their feeds. Young clients travel in packs, and they’re likely to refer like nobody else in a book of business.

How to Win the Youngest Client in the Room
The goal is to be findable, credible, and referable to someone twenty years younger, without pretending to be someone you are not. Four things that can work:

Be findable where they actually look. A younger traveler is not searching "travel agent near me" in Google. They are scrolling Instagram and TikTok. Skip the on-camera dancing. Just keep a clean, real presence that proves you exist and that you travel: the view from the balcony, the honest take on a hotel, the one tip that saves a headache. If they cannot find evidence of you, you are not even in the running.

Trade polish for proof. This generation trusts specifics over slogans. "I stayed here in March, ask for a room on the courtyard side, the street side is loud" does more than any glossy brochure ever will. Show them you have walked the ground they are about to walk.

Make the first step small. A 25-year-old planning a long weekend is not going to fill out a formal three-page intake form. Meet them where they are with a quick call or, even better, a couple of texted questions. Let the relationship earn the bigger conversation later.

Do not pander. You do not have to borrow their slang or chase every trend. What they are hiring is someone who knows more than they do and treats them like an adult with a real budget, even if that budget is smaller today than it will be in ten years.

The Client Who Is 25 Now
That 25-year-old does not stay 25. Give it twenty years and she is calling with a bigger salary, a family of her own, and a standing habit of picking up the phone (or texting more likely) before she books anything herself. And right now, while most in this industry aren’t bothering to court her, she is about as easy to reach as she will ever be.

This Week's Challenge
Think of one younger person already in your orbit. A friend's kid heading abroad, a recent client's college-age daughter, the 27-year-old who follows you online but has never booked. Reach out with no pitch attached, just a genuine "where are you headed next, and can I help you think it through?" Most advisors will skip this because the payoff is not immediate. But if you do, it will show up ten years and one big referral chain later.