Insights Making Headlines: August/September 2018 Edition

October 16, 2018

MMGY Global’s 2017–2018 Portrait of American Travelers® along with the latest travelhorizonsTM data continue to earn coverage in top-tier consumer and trade outlets, including Condé Nast Traveler, AdAge, Travel Agent Central and more. MMGY Global’s Destination DC new business win also generated travel trade interest.

How Hostels Became Poshtels

According to MMGY Global’s Portrait of American Travelers®, 1 in 4 people planned to travel solo this year. The Condé Nast Traveler piece titled “How Hostels Became Poshtels: The Remaking of a Backpacker’s Hangout” about the rise of luxury hostels featured this relevant data as it helps hostels promote the safe place they offer for people looking to meet fellow travelers.

Obligation Vacation

MMGY Global’s latest travelhorizons TM survey shows that one-third of U.S. adults indicated that they have taken at least one vacation where they felt obligated to do so based on friends or family expectations, holiday traditions, weddings, graduations, baby showers, etc. Among these travelers, nearly half (46%) indicate that they enjoy these vacations as much as those they plan for their own reasons. One out of 2 travelers also indicate that they have been inspired to return to a destination they visited on an “obligation vacation.”

Travel Agent Central highlighted MMGY Global’s insights in an article titled: “Stats: One-Third Have Taken an ‘Obligation Vacation’.”

 TripAdvisor Plans a Social Network

An AdAge article titled “TripAdvisor Plans a Social Network Via New Feed, Site and Partners” included expert commentary from MMGY’s VP of Marketing Technology, Robert Patterson, who noted that TripAdvisor’s move will allow the company to stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape with competitors such as Airbnb and Google. He explained that “while they had great information, historically, TripAdvisor wasn’t an inspiration-based site. Now, they’re allowing people to follow the brands and influencers in their own social sphere and can more easily capture users early in that process and keep them within their ecosystem.”