In a recent MediaPost article, Gary Leopold referenced two studies that could indicate future generations won’t share that love.

First, a study of 100K global teens by virtual world site Habbo concluded that today’s teens are far less inclined to want to travel or work overseas.

Then, a study commissioned by lastminutetravel.com said young people were spending more of their money on entertainment and technology than traveling the world. This, in turn, caused the UK’s Daily Telegraph to jump to say “perhaps worringly, a new generation will reject travel altogether in favor of gaming, social networking and ‘always on’ media.”

Telegraph, meet giant leap.

Still, would it surprise you if tomorrow’s adults liked to travel less?

This is a generation weaned online. They explore and connect virtually. It makes sense these experiences might supplant some of the need to travel.

Add to that the joys of travel today: Airports. Security. Global tensions. Not to mention, expense. And, let’s face it, you have to love travel to make it a priority.

Leopold offers the travel industry two pieces of advice. They’re good thoughts, whether you buy the doom-and-gloom or not.

Turn today’s youth into tomorrow’s travelers. In short, make them want it. To do that, you need to recognize what drives them is not the same as generations past.

Create ways to engage children (and help parents interact with their kids). Start a dialogue now that is going to make them want to pursue the wonders of the world beyond the screen.

Really, he’s saying, understand and engage the next generation.

Whether the studies cited point to anything or not, traveler marketers need to heed the advice. Turn on the news — terrorism, storms, oil, the economy. It doesn’t exactly breed a love of travel. If we hope tomorrow’s adults will have one, we might invest in helping grow it among our kids and youth today.

*RevPAR

You see, we’re in the idea business. And we love what we do.

You may also notice (if you’ve seen our client list) that we have a great deal of restaurant experience. In fact, not just experience, but a real passion for the dining industry and tackling the unique challenges restaurant brands face.

So as the economy started going south and the media kept banging the gong of doom, people started hunkering down, staying home and spending less. But for some reason, things didn’t get a whole lot better.

Our planning and insights team started taking a hard look at behaviors, trends, statistics and a whole lot of other factors in order to see if something could be done to help not just our clients, but everyone else as well.

And as we dug, and learned and uncovered…an idea began to form.

Waiting around for bailouts and handouts isn’t the answer. The answer is us. All of us.

Our intent is to create a movement. One based on the simple premise of reminding people that they can contribute to the economic recovery by doing very normal things.

Like eating out at a restaurant.

Take a look at this video. Let us know what you think.

And eat out for a change, will ya?

If asked to recall every minute of a single day, what would your chart look like? Are you really working every minute in the office, or would some of those minutes be consumed by eating, socializing, shopping and phone calls? If you start thinking about it, we engage in a lot of different activities every day.

Take a look at the Time Use Survey and see what other people are up to throughout the day.

Isn’t that like going to meet with a home builder and quizzing her about the carpenters she employs? Sure I expect her to hire the best people, but what I care most about is what I can expect my home to look like and why it’s the best fit for my family and me.

So, I’d like to suggest that a more productive initial discussion might be to focus on how the agency gets to ideas and past examples of great insights, rather than the tools they have at their disposal. Having been a client myself for several years, I know that if I had to pick between an agency dedicated to insights and an agency that employs dozens of Flash developers, I’d go with the first scenario every single time.

So, how do you identify an agency that’s truly committed to building brands based upon identifying stronger and deeper insights? Here are some things to keep your eye on:

See what the agency thinks are great insights. Put them on the spot. Every single piece of work ought to be based upon a key insight into that client’s business, customers or competitive situation. Telling that story should come as second nature.

Follow the money. A pretty clear indication of their commitment is how much they have invested in this area. Do they have Account Planners on staff? How much do they spend in research tools or research facilities? If the head of Account Planning is not present in your first meeting, maybe they’re not really committed to discovering those nuggets.

Ask whose job it is. Oftentimes, agencies play the “it’s everyone’s job” card. While certainly all of an agency’s efforts should be focused on getting smart about the client’s business, their target and their marketplace, truly great agencies treat insight gathering as a separate discipline. If they don’t, then it’s clear that relevant ideas are not seen as the strategic foundation of the organization.

Today’s agencies need to be more insight-centric and far less obsessed with narrow production capabilities. I’m sure we’d all agree an agency shouldn’t be tied into making recommendations based on its capabilities. It goes to the old saying about, “if the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail.”

But, don’t take my word for it. In this Ad Age video, Patrick Edson, VP Marketing Innovation, MillerCoors points to hard-to-find insights as the reason behind the success of the Rocky Mountain Cold Refreshment campaign. Funny, he never says a word about his agency’s production capabilities.