Kelly Parisi, Solution Development Manager, Spear One
Kelly Parisi is the solution development manager with Spear One, a meetings and incentives management firm based in Irving, Texas, and a member of Gen Y. Here is her wish list as a Millennial meeting planner when it comes to choosing a new or renovated hotel property:
- Free Wi-Fi: This shouldn’t even be a question. It should just be free. Even better is a relaxed lounge or Starbucks-type atmosphere where I can plug in and relax after traveling. Maybe meet a stranger in a new place. This is especially desirable for business travel hotels.
- Authenticity: Hotels should be authentic to their destination, rather than the same product everywhere you are. Brands like Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton really have to work to catch the eye of a Millennial, because some may perceive them as “stuffy” or a brand their parents would find appealing (which obviously they must rebel from). One of the brands I have seen excel in this area is Andaz, promoting themselves as “cultural insiders,” “unexpectedly localized” and “eclectic.” Their logo is the first promise of a creative brand with alternating fonts and colors. One of their mottos is “arrive a visitor, depart a local.” Millennials want to be connected to their environment; they want to be part of a movement in their search for purpose.
- Change my life: In order to invest in a hotel experience for leisure or group incentive travel, Millennials want you to enrich their life. It’s more than the number of room amenities or fancy shampoo and slippers they will be receiving. They want to walk away changed. What experiences can a hotel offer that I cannot organize on my own? And it needs to be more than lei-making from 2-3 p.m. in front of the pool bar.
- Super researchers: We’ve had the Internet so long we can’t remember what life is like without it. With so much information at our fingertips, Millennials like to do a lot of research before making their decisions. They will scout out any and all feedback on the Web on at least page 1 to 2 of Google, the main hubs being TripAdvisor and Expedia. We have no problem endlessly scrolling to find out anything and everything to expect. It is very important for hotels to have good online ratings.
- Social feedback: Millennials look to social media and real-time feedback to see what others are saying about different hotels. If a hotel doesn’t have a Twitter page, I assume they don’t have a solid brand. It’s near as bad as not having a website. I follow Four Seasons, Starwood, Fairmont, Hilton and others that all seem to do a great job with Twitter posts. Within the major brand’s Twitter page, each individual property should still have its own page to share destination-specific info.
Some brands that seem to be doing a great job marketing to Millennials: Aloft by Starwood; Moxy by Marriott; W Hotels; Andaz. One-off hotels really have a leg up with Millennials as we like unique experiences. I was recently wowed by the brand Faena, which now has properties in Miami Beach and Buenos Aires. The brand offers a classic lux atmosphere with dinners in their private wine cellar and tango lessons at their evening cabaret. The brand does a good job with melding modern marketing with classic, old-world elegance.