Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey reveals that relaxation is the number one preference when looking for a travel destination in 2022, accounting for 34.5% of women and 32.8% of men in terms of respondents stating this as a top holiday feature.
Relaxation is the number one preference when looking for a travel destination in 2022
Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey
Understanding the nuances, no matter how small, across key demographics and psychographics is a fundamental part of successful destination marketing to ensure alignment between travel products and consumer segments.
Relaxation, arts and culture find broad appeal with women
Women typically show a stronger preference for arts and heritage than their male counterparts, at 15.6% vs 12.8% respectively. There is also a clear difference in interest shown for sports and adventure, with a three percentage point differential in men’s favour in terms of physical activities like hiking and trekking.
Curated and authentic, local experiences prove popular
When it comes to attitudes to experiences, these results suggest women show marginally higher levels of engagement with valuing real life experiences, with 76.7% of respondents saying that this was important to them, compared to 74.7% for men.
Women show marginally higher levels of engagement with valuing real life experiences
Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey
Furthermore, women generally appear to be more willing to spend money to enjoy experiences, as well as seeking out more curated, personalised and more unique experiences than their male counterparts. Authenticity also ranks high, where women show a higher disposition to exploring and getting to know different cultures from their own. This shows the importance of doubling down on locally created and sourced travel and tourism products, such as stays with locals, community based tourism or co-created guided tours.
Interest in virtual experiences, including metaverse type activities such as virtual concerts or enjoying a holiday destination, demonstrably spikes for millennials. However, male millennials show the highest level of interest at 60.5%, three percentage points clear of their female counterparts in 2022.
With destinations from Barbados to Tuvalu entering the metaverse, there is potential to scope out fun and immersive travel experiences in the next generation of internet, as a means to deepen consumer engagement and loyalty.
Results indicate women show “greater autonomy” in making travel decisions
When it comes to travel planning and booking online, Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer: Digital Survey reveals that there are different priorities. For women, the importance of free cancellations appears to be considerable, at 61%, compared to 56.3% for men.
For travel planning during the inspiration and discovery stage of the customer journey, customer feedback from current or previous customers that have booked with a travel brand or visited a destination, is considered even more essential for women than men.
Concerning key sources of inspiration, both sexes value seeking advice from others, with men showing a greater dependency on in-person conversations with family for inspiration about travel than women, at 47.6% and 45.5% respectively in 2022.
Across all categories of search sources, women tended to rank lower than men, which suggests that women show slightly more autonomy when making travel decisions based on their own preferences, often being the primary decision maker when booking travel.
Destinations and travel brands would be wise to continue to empower women to make the best and most sustainable travel choices, that fit their needs.
For more in-depth analysis, take a look at our report, Q4 2022 Travel Quarterly Statement