New research from the Gen Ys and Zs has shown that flexibility is a hugely sought-after ingredient to the travel experience, according to Contiki.
The youth travel brand crunched the numbers and saw that as much as 70 per cent of youth travellers want all of the essentials to be taken care of, but would love more free time and freedom to explore a city their own way.
And with this fun little fact, Independent Insider was born!
The brand new itinerary is set to “reinvent the wheel” of independent youth travel, and has been designed for ultimate freedom and flexibility with the new millennial traveller in mind.
The European Summer Independent Insider itineraries cover some of Europe’s most popular and sought-after locations including Nice, Copenhagen, Budapest, Mykonos, the Amalfi Coast and Porto.
Trips range from 3-13 days, with three nights in each city. Travellers can choose to travel to one, two, three or all four destinations, starting and finishing in whatever city they want.
Three nights in each city gives millennials the maximum time to delve into every destination without missing out on any bucket list musts.
Each trip also includes a unique local experience in each destination such as a progressive food tour through Berlin and street art tour of Barcelona.
The itinerary will offer multiple Free-Time Add Ons designed around millennials cultural passions such as a Vespa tour in Rome, a Patisserie Tour in Paris and a Cocktail Mixology in Amsterdam. In addition, all Independent Insider trips will include a local and immersive food experience with partner VizEat ensuring our travellers get a taste for traditional cuisine at a local’s home in the destinations they visit.
The new travel style also offers the option to add two Independent Insider trips together as well as U by Uniworld river cruising products onto selected itineraries, giving travellers even more choice and freedom.
“It’s a first of its kind in the youth market, and with the ever-changing travel industry, Contiki recognises the need to disrupt and be disrupted in order to be ahead of the trend of millennial travel,” said Managing Director of Contiki Australia, Katrina Barry.
“Independent Insider speaks directly to the traveller seeking to see a city through their own lens, and we’re happy to continue to innovate with our trips to speak to our ever-changing market and traveller needs.
“Europe was the birthplace of Contiki, and remains a leading destination for young adventurers. By developing 26 new and improved itineraries into our 2018/19 program we are demonstrating not only our commitment to the destination, but also to our consumers.
“No matter what type of traveller you might be, if you’re 18-35, Contiki has a trip for you in Europe.”
A choice of eight totally unique ways to travel, including Discovery trips, In-Depth Exploration, and High-Energy itineraries ensures travellers can choose the type of travel experience best suited to them, whilst five different ways to stay in Europe enables millennials to enjoy a mixture of cosy hotels, trendy hostels, traditional camping as well as the sailing and cruise options.
A new partnership comes in the shape of Visit Portugal, as Contiki continue increase passengers to one of Europe’s hottest destinations for 2018.
“Visit Portugal are delighted to be partnering with Contiki the world’s leading youth travel company,” said Miguel Moraes, Trade Marketing Director for Visit Portugal.
“Our partnership with Contiki includes innovative marketing campaigns to drive destination awareness to the millennial audience as well as developing new itineraries which allow the global Contiki customer to experience more of what Portugal has to offer.”
In addition to the unveiling of a new travel style, the Europe Summer of 2018/19 will see the continuation of Contiki’s Limited Edition Series, Boutique Local and Munch trips in exciting new destinations.
