Are Millennials Really That Different?

Image: PHOTO: Millennial travel has shown the most growth. (photo courtesy of Thinkstock)
Image: PHOTO: Millennial travel has shown the most growth. (photo courtesy of Thinkstock)
Janeen Christoff
by Janeen Christoff
Last updated: 6:00 PM ET, Mon July 25, 2016

They are the most written about and studied generation ever, but are they really that different from the rest of us? They do live with their parents longer and get married later - but wasn't that a trend that we were already seeing with previous generations?

According to UrbanEdge, many of us are seeking a more connected, urban lifestyle these days and it has been that way for some time.

Several studies have concluded that millennials aren't changing things as much as previous data would like people to think.

"The truth may, at least in part, be in the eye of the beholder. Based on our analyses, and some of the more recent reports of surveys describing millennial attitudes and behaviors, it appears that the truth is more likely to be aligned with the notion that millennials are not game-changers after all," wrote Ram Pendyala of Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who was part of team researching millennial behavior. "They are not necessarily altering the social fabric any more than prior generations did."

[READMORE]READ MORE: Can Cruise Lines and Casinos Attract Millennials? [/READMORE]

While they are clearly unique, millennial behavior seems to fall in line with the rest of us as they get older.

"We find that millennials are behaving quite differently when compared with previous generations at early adulthood, but they are showing clear signs of settling into the patterns of behavior exhibited by prior generations as they advance in age and experience more mature lifecycle stages," said Pendyala.

What could this mean for travel? Read more discussion on how millennials - and all of us - are really more similar than different.


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