Contiki & Germany on the power of peer voices

“One of the first things young travellers think about when they picture Germany is Oktoberfest,” Brad Ford, president of Contiki Holidays Canada, told the room of young writers last night at Otto’s Berlin Döner in Toronto.

And while the guests, primarily trade media, bloggers and social media trendsetters (or ‘influencers,’ as Ford called them), may have been initially drawn to the event with the promise of dark beer and wurst, it was the rhetoric – spotlighting millennials’ importance in the travel market – that served as the real main course.

Contiki, an adventure tour company which caters largely to age group of 18-35, got together with the German Tourism Board to discuss the art of peer-to-peer influence, following the release of Contiki’s 2016-17 Europe program Eight Ways to Travel.

“We want trade to understand that young travellers want to travel to Germany,” Ford told PAX. “And it’s important for everyone across Canada to understand there’s an opportunity to sell Germany better, and to do so with Contiki.”

Even more important to understand, the two organizations emphasized throughout the evening, is that Millennials represent a whole new market – with a very different set of desires and expectations – and it’s beginning to emerge.

“A lot of people focus on Baby Boomers,” Antje Splettstoesser, director of marketing & sales office - Canada for the German National Tourist Office told PAX. “And yes, they’re important, but they’re not the only travellers.”

According to Ford, overall, Millennials, who now make up 29 per cent of the total adult population of Canada, are expected to be the generation who travel the most in the coming years.

“Millennials are really a force to be reckoned with,” he told guests. “Before, it was all about the Baby Boomer, but the eye has shifted now toward [young travellers], and trying to figure out how to sell to [them].”

The interesting thing, he continued, is that Millennials don’t want to be sold to.

Young travellers respond better to authentic experiences, and inspirational messaging that feels real, Ford explained, and Contiki found a way to provide those things through the power of social media several years ago – in conjunction with young travel partners who have a strong online presence.

“It began when we sent social influencers into the destination and told them to just ‘have fun,’” Ford said. “They came back to us with content that was authentic; stories told in their own voice, through a variety of media. That’s the best thing about it – we don’t have to script [the kind of stories they tell].”

The idea of presenting their message to the Contiki demographic using peer voice is a strategy that Germany, for which the 18-35 age group is its biggest growing segment at 37 per cent, is able to get behind.

From January to July in 2015, Germany’s numbers for overnight Canadian visitors grew by 3.5 per cent. The destination is an accessible, safe and culturally-rich place to visit, and according to Ford, is often part of a multi-destination trip. Furthermore, the ease of which travellers are able to become immersed in the German experience – from the 1,500 types of sausage to the pubs that stay open until 11 a.m. – has a profound impact.

“Millennials love Germany,” he said, “because it’s transformational.”

Contiki itself has 53 trips that go into Germany, and the country sits in the brand’s top 10 list of best-selling destinations.

Now, with the launch of Contiki’s new Europe Program, the goal is to inspire more Millennials to travel than ever before, using the voice of ‘influencers’ - which supports one of Contiki’s major core values: to be part of the story.

“We want to work with people who emulate what we think is empowering for young travellers,” Ford said of the initiative. “Young influencers are travelling the world and giving [the industry] their own perspective without using a corporate spreadsheet. Those voices are real.”

And the reach is wide. Contiki has a network of social media that blankets nearly every type of platform, and currently boasts 30,000 Twitter followers, 413,000 likes on Facebook, and 49,000 subscribers on YouTube. A cliff jumping video featuring Italy and created by one of Contiki’s partners, YouTube producer Devinsupertramp, achieved 1 million likes on Oct. 6 – a first for one of Contiki’s videos.

According to Ford, it’s that kind of authentic content – that embodies the high-energy, fulfilling adventures Contiki works to offer its growing Millennial market – that ignites an urge in young travellers to get out and experience the world first-hand.

“Because young travellers are so locked into their mobile devices and the Internet, sometimes they actually forget that [what they see is] not real. You can get a lot of information, you can be moved by what’s on there, and you can be attached to it, but it’s only when you get out there and create your own adventure, and your own stories that you start to realize what life is really all about.”

For more information about Contiki and its 2016-17 Europe program, visit here.

For more information about travel to Germany, visit here.

PHOTO: Sheralyn Berry, director of sales, Contiki Holidays Canada; Antje Splettstoesser, director of marketing & sales office - Canada for the German National Tourist Office; Brad Ford, president, Contiki Holidays Canada; Lauren Howard, national brand & marketing manager, Contiki Holidays Canada.