An Emerging Opportunity in Hospitality : Progressive Explorers
Written by Kaitlyn Skov
A confluence of two powerful trends is forming a new market segment and a generational opportunity for innovative hospitality developers. This market is Progressive Explorers.
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Progressive Explorers are progressively-minded individuals who passionately believe in and pursue a diverse life, community and perspective in our world. Spanning generational and demographic categories, Progressive Explorers are a psychographic-driven market segment united by a common mindset and values. Directly fueled by multiple global trends and movements, this emerging group is on the verge of dominance in travel, retail, hospitality and other major markets.
In this article we explore the two underlying trend drivers, demand and opportunity value of the Progressive Explorer market through the lens of hospitality.
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Market-Driving Mega Trends
The Progressive Trend
One of the most important and influential societal evolutions is modern society’s progress and moral position on diversity. Over the past century this evolution, though starting slowly has quickly accelerated over the past few decades. This pivotal shift in perspective has driven change throughout almost every faction of society. Now more than ever, diversity has a significant influence on the outlook of our society, economy and industry.
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In general, Western societies have evolved their perspectives, progressing from disliking or rejecting diverse groups and cultures to openly accepting and desiring such diversity within their communities. A recent Pew Research poll on US attitudes towards diversity found that a majority of Americans (77 % collectively) say the fact that the US population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities is a good thing.
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Though occurring in different ways and at different rates across the world, a growing global segment of society has moved beyond acceptance to valuing connecting with and experiencing diverse people and cultures. Supporting this, in a different recent Pew Research poll conducted in the UK, Canada, US, Australia and Spain, found that roughly 60% of citizens say they are in favor of diversity; believing local and larger society is a better place because of it.
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The zenith for this progressive trend is achieving a significant majority of the population believing in and valuing diversity, shifting from thought to action, having individuals actively seek out opportunities to experience and better understand the differences of our world. The hospitality industry has the opportunity to be a catalyst for this exciting evolution.
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The Explorer Trend
A more traditional, generationally correlated trend is forming around younger generations experiencing / embodying a stronger desire to “explore” their world. The proliferation of information, enablement of global communication and increasing accessibility of world-wide travel has yielded younger generations with a broader “global view” and interest.
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Founders Joe Diaz and Greg Sullivan of AFAR media identified this market segment twenty years ago and have established a leading brand directly catering to this growing demographic of global explorers; providing inspiring narratives, guides and immersive experience opportunities aligned with this market’s desire and values.
The explorer trend is highly related to the equally powerful movement towards experiences, especially with younger generations who see exploration and experience going hand-in-hand. In terms of travel and hospitality, this includes more immersive experiences, with individuals seeking more opportunities to immerse into the under layers of a new city or culture. We see this growth through groups like Airbnb (Experiences), Selina (Road Trips) and Hoxton (Camp Hox) ; all seeking to engage customers through new experiential channel offerings beyond traditional room and tour accommodations.
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Travel is not the sole outlet or activity for “exploring”; explorers also value the opportunity to explore and experience the world right outside their front doors. There is a major opportunity market locally for explorative experiences that enable locals to explore their cities, neighborhoods and communities at a new depth and on a much more frequent basis than their vacation days allow with traveling.
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The hospitality industry plays an important role in serving this growing market, challenged with providing immersive and diverse platforms and programs that allow for exploration locally and, well, afar.​​​​​
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A Large & Growing Market
More than just Millennials
The confluence of the progressive and explorer trends is driving the emergence of the Progressive Explorer market segment. With more than half the Western population advancing towards the most positive, progressive views of diversity and the increasing dominance of Millennial and proceeding generations’ demand for explorative experiences, this new segment is growing rapidly and with dominance.
Keys Components of Progressive Explorers...
Progressive Explorers are a progressive group of like-minded individuals; a psychographic-driven market segment united by a common mindset, opposed to a demographic category.
This unique, market-defining mindset is shaped by three core characteristics :
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It’s through this lens that Progressive Explorers view and interact with the world around them, how they evaluate opportunity and value and create impact The combination of this mindset and shared values of active inclusivity, diversity, exploration and openness have glued together a diverse community of like-minded individuals around the world creating a unified demand in the market.
Open-minded : they have a high level of openness, pursue a global perspective
Value & Seek Diversity : they have a genuine interest in diverse people and experiences
Global Explorers : they have a passion for exploring the world and connecting with new and different people
A Generational Opportunity in Hospitality : Progressive Explorers
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Progressive Explorers desire connective, explorative experiences that enable them to expand their global perspective and discover a sense of belonging with like-minded peers. This market actively seeks opportunities to connect, learn and broaden their horizons through experiences and people, exposing an obvious and exciting opportunity for the hospitality industry to cater to this growing market demand. In particular, a great opportunity for someone to be the first mover in understanding, serving and celebrating this incredible new market segment.
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While exciting, there is also great nuance, challenge and several potential pitfalls in serving this segment. Catering to this market requires careful programming and considerations to curate the right experience environment and journey for these unique guests.
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Take for example, Starbucks. Though you may think Starbucks would be a Progressive Explorer-aligned platform with their mission “to inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time’ and core value of “creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome”, you would be off-base. While the experience may be welcoming, Starbucks was not purpose-built to cater to the needs of Progressive Explorers. For instance, if a Progressive Explorer was to walk in and engage with another patron or employee, there is no guaranteed cultural exchange or common value of openness, no explorative programming or interactive opportunities to explore the space or connect with the people in it. While a great platform and company, Starbucks was not built with the specific programming, people or environment design to truly serve the desired Progressive Explorer experience.
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This market shows significant growth potential and staying power for long-term market leadership and some of the most innovative and visionary hospitality companies are starting to see the opportunities. Studio Skov’s EDGE © Concept Development approach enables development teams to identify exciting market trends like this and develop concepts that can distance themselves from the competition with first-mover advantage to build a strong brand with a loyal community.
We challenge you to look beyond the horizon to develop leading disruptive concepts and serve future markets like Progressive Explorers.