Gen Z Is Poised to Reshape the Travel Industry
The youngest generation of adults is already traveling frequently and expects brands in the space to be inclusive and accessible to everyone, writes travel & hospitality analyst Lindsey Roeschke
Move over, millennials. Gen Zers — the generation born between 1997 and 2012 — are coming into their own when it comes to spending power, and many are choosing to spend on travel. While their initial entry into the category was hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the youngest generation of adults is making up for lost time by traveling enthusiastically and often. Travel brands must understand Gen Zers’ unique behaviors and expectations and lay the groundwork with them now to ensure future success.
Despite being engaged travelers, Gen Zers expressed a lower level of trust in the travel industry than other generations. This is reflective of a truth about Gen Z as a whole — they tend to exhibit lower levels of trust in all industries and institutions. But that doesn’t mean travel brands should simply give up. To set a strong foundation with the travelers of tomorrow, brands should focus on building trust with Gen Zers today.
Frequent Gen Z travelers are lower-income, urban and diverse
As a traditionally expensive, discretionary category, leisure travel has long been an activity that is more accessible to higher-income consumers. Consequently, the most frequent leisure travelers tend to be the highest earners. For example, millennials in households with annual incomes of at least $100,000 are 5 percentage points more likely to be frequent travelers than the general population; that gap is even larger for Gen Xers and baby boomers, at 7 points.
For Gen Zers, that difference is only 1 point — in fact, 61% of Gen Zers who took three or more leisure trips in the past year come from households earning less than $50,000 annually. What this suggests is that the youngest generation isn’t waiting until they have a certain amount of income or savings to see the world; they’re finding ways to fit it into their budgets now.
More than half of Gen Zers are already frequent travelers
Despite their youth and comparatively low income, Gen Zers are traveling — and they’re doing so frequently. Just over half of Gen Z adults (52%) are frequent travelers, meaning they took at least three leisure trips in the past year. That share is significantly larger than it is for higher-earning Gen Xers and baby boomers, and it’s on par with millennials, who are currently the focus of the industry. As Gen Zers age and grow in spending power, they will likely outpace travel-happy millennials.
