We sat down to talk trends with DreamJobbing co-founder and TV producer Alex Boylan, an avid traveler, adventurer, and entrepreneur.

DreamJobbing is not only the coolest job platform out here – it’s an innovative company founded by three entertainment veterans and incredible storytellers within the network TV space.  Alex has produced branded digital content for CBS, Rachael Ray Show, Travel Channel, the list goes on.

In addition to that, he has worked with many destinations to offer truly once-in-a-lifetime journeys that ultimately get turned into documentaries. Segway to 2015 when we joined forces with their team and worked on a very special DreamJobbing episode on Norway – partnering with the Oslo Region and Fjord Norway.

We wanted to ask Alex about his views on destination marketing and emerging trends within the industry and with US travelers in general.
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Many of the same arguments and observations touched upon in this interview can be found in recent travel studies, and are important for travel marketers to take note of in 2019. 

Age Agnostics in Digital

According to Euromonitor International’s Top 10 Global Consumer Trends for 2019 – a closer look at emerging fast-moving trends expected to gain traction in the year ahead, provides some insight into changing consumer values and priorities and exploring how consumer behavior is shifting and causing disruption for business globally.

On of these trends evolves around later lifers, who are overall in better financial shape than the rest of the population, with the highest spending power among all age groups and the average income level of these two age groups will grow as much as 26% by 2025 - making this demographic a highly profitable target group for marketing travel destinations such as Norway.

“I think there should be more of an emphasis on the Baby Boomers”
 Alex Boylan, DreamJobbing Co-Founder

More and more, later lifers kind of want to remain ageless. They don’t want to be placed in buckets with other ‘old people’ and be served ‘old people’ ads or messaging. The takeaway here is that marketers shouldn’t conform to demographic expectations—but rather develop travel products that are universally accessible and more inclusive across generations.  

You can read the full Euromonitor International report HERE.

Authenticity and Consumers vs Marketers Perspectives

Programs like DreamJobbing and the newly launched The Local Traveler, will become even more relevant for destinations in the year to come – especially at a time when authenticity means everything to our target consumers, aka customers.

“There is something about that local immersion, that travelers really want more of”
 Alex Boylan, DreamJobbing Co-Founder

A Stackla study aptly named “BRIDGING THE GAP: Consumer & Marketer Perspectives on Content in the Digital Age” interestingly shows that although consumers and marketers agree on the importance of authenticity and personalization, their perception of what that should be significantly diverge.

Consumers say user-generated content is the most authentic compared to brand-created content, while marketers are more likely to say that brand-created content is most authentic. It seems that marketers aren’t personalizing as well as they think. In fact, most marketers believe most or all of the content they create resonates as authentic - yet most consumers say less than half of brands create authentic content.

This report not only delves deeper into the types of content consumers are creating, referencing and being influenced by across a diverse array of buying experiences - but also details the perspective of the B2C marketers who are creating these content experiences for consumers. By looking at both the consumer and marketer sides of the content equation, this survey uncovers the gaps in perception that exist between what consumers want and what marketers believe they’re providing. 

You can read the full STACKLA report HERE.