travel tech insights

In today’s market, travel and tourism have become less expensive and more accessible for greater percentages of the population than ever before. The internet - through the proliferation of online travel agencies, discount travel websites, travel review websites, and social media - has created a space where those with strict financial constraints can still experience the world without breaking the bank. Often referred to as the budget traveler, this sect of the travel and tourism market is still a sizable portion of the traveling public, and one the travel industry would be foolish to write off even as global travel grows more and more attainable and commonplace.

But who is the budget traveler? What does this breed of tourist look like?

If travel companies would be ill-advised to ignore budget travelers, then it only make sense the industry understand the needs, wants, and desires of this customer pool to best position products and services of greatest appeal and importance.

It’s no secret that we as humans like to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals - people we can identify with and who look, act, speak, and think in a similar fashion. And for years now, companies have marketed products leveraging this desire for identification and connection to build scaleable customer bases and establish brand loyalty. 

For example, a company looking to target urban professionals might create a magazine ad highlighting a young, sleek, well-dressed man or woman in a bustling, big-city landscape in which the company’s product significantly adds or assists the subject’s overall way of life.

Known as lifestyle branding, it’s perhaps one of the hottest trends in the travel industry in the last few years.

There are very few people who haven’t heard the refrain, “I know half my marketing expenditure is a waste of money, I just don’t know which half.” One reason for this saying’s longevity is that it contains a kernel of truth; every travel company would love to know exactly what turns a visitor into a customer – so it could only spend money on what makes that happen.