Gen Y and the Hotelier impact

The news is out- Forrester’s 2008 North America Technographics Benchmark survey gathered data from around 61,000 consumers in the US and Canada with the below results.

First the basics:

• Generation Y consists of 18- to 28-year-olds
• Generation X consists of 29 to 42 year olds

Now the most recent, selected stats:

• Generation Y
  • 9 out of 10 own a PC and 82 per cent a mobile phone
  • 72 per cent of mobile phone users send or receive SMS messages
  • spend more time online than they do watching television, with 42 per cent watching online video at least once per month
• Generation X
  • 21 per cent read a blog once per month
  • 61 per cent of mobile phone users send or receive SMS messages
  • 69 per cent have shopped online and 65 per cent used online banking

While Generation X is increasingly using online and mobile technologies Generation Y is leading the way in technology adoption. Generally, it can be said that the key distinction between Generation X and Y is that Generation X uses technology when it supports a lifestyle need whereas tech is embedded into everything Gen Yers do making them the first native online population.

Depending on your current target demographics and if your’re opening a new property within the next few years what are you doing to ensure that Gen Y and Gen X can both co-exist, enjoy your property and want to return? If you are not opening a new property soon, what does your marketing brand and IT technology roadmap look like to keep pace with the GenY consumers who are and will continue to set, through their spending dollars, your technology agenda and impact your future revenue growth?