ASTA’s network for young travel advisors is not the only community of its kind that is looking to reinvent itself and its purpose as its members emerge from the pandemic.
Ten years ago Millennials in Travel came onto the scene as a social collective aimed at providing a networking space for travel professionals born after 1975 that could help them develop, grow and evolve their careers.
The group is open to all types of travel industry professionals, including advisors, suppliers and journalists, and today has a robust, 3,300-member network with nine chapters located in major cities across the country.
While its mission to help members connect is still a top priority, Millennials in Travel says its purpose recently broadened to focus on becoming a resource for the travel industry at large when it comes to the travel needs, trends and desires of millennials and the young traveler market.
“‘What do millennials want?’ That’s how we have been utilized as a resource for other organizations, companies, tourism boards, etc.,” said Joshua Smith, director of strategic development for the group. “We work on projects polling our membership or holding focus groups to understand what are the needs, and the changing needs, and it helps those organizations be more efficient and effective in the marketplace.”