Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. Millennials and Gen Z want immersive vacations. Justin Lewis/Getty Images According to Intrepid Travel, young people are looking for immersive, non-traditional vacation experiences. Millennials share more travel similarities with Gen Z travelers than previous generations. Younger travelers are prioritizing interest-based travel over destination-based travel.
Younger people are looking for more human connection in the post-lockdown era and are embracing travelling in small groups.
Modern technology and social media apps have created a hyper-connected world, but many millennials and Gen Zers say our focus on screens has led to an epidemic of loneliness.
While new apps and local community groups are trying to address the issue of social distancing, some young people are choosing to book holidays with strangers for more face-to-face friendships.
Intrepid Travel, which organises small-group experiences in more than 100 countries including Morocco and Sri Lanka, says it is seeing growing interest among young people in these types of group trips.
Young people are booking small group trips. Stephen Simpson/Getty Images
“They're prioritizing travel over buying a home, a mortgage, or other expenses,” Matt Berna, president of the Americas for Intrepid Travel, told Business Insider.
Group travel can be hit or miss for some people, but for others it conjures up images of 40+ tourists getting off a bus and being led to a crowded tourist site by a loud-mouthed tour guide.
But Berna said Intrepid Travel's focus on small-group experiences is the exact opposite: Intrepid Travel's average group is 10 people.
“I get to travel like a local,” Berna says. “I eat in small local restaurants. I stay in family-run hotels. I generally avoid mass tourism, hotels and experiences.”
It will also allow people to forge new bonds in a close-knit environment, something young travelers crave in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The camaraderie that you have in a group is very special because you develop great friendships and you share laughs and stories,” Berna said.
Berna said these unique experiences are popular with Intrepid Travel's core customer demographic of 18 to 29 year olds. The experiences are designed with younger travelers in mind, offering them more free time to explore alone and more active outings.
Intrepid Travel's average group size is 10 people. jacoblund/Getty Images
Berna said Intrepid Travel has started getting requests from people in their 30s looking for adventure in more remote locations — a desire that hasn't diminished over time as millennials have traditionally valued experience-driven opportunities.
“Millennials are clearly aging, but their travel preferences are more immersive,” Berna said. “In fact, they're resonating more with Gen Z than previous generations.”
According to American Express Travel's 2023 Global Travel Trends Report, approximately 80% of millennial and Gen Z respondents said they would like to “experience a day living like a local in the place they are visiting,” and expressed a preference for activities such as visiting local cultural heritage and “hidden gem” tourist spots.
Airbnb, owned by millennial billionaire Brian Chesky, reported in 2020 that “immersive experiences” are growing in popularity among this generation, with interest up 102% year-over-year.
According to Berna, older generations book vacations based on destination: Older travelers tend to plan their vacations around common tourist sites like the Eiffel Tower in Paris because they're popular.
But younger travelers don't have the same sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) as their parents. Instead, they book vacations based on their interests.
Intrepid Travel also caters to cycling enthusiasts who travel to Vietnam and cycle around the local sites. Camping, festivals and food-based experiences are also options travelers can explore.
“They want to be the trendsetters who go to the next hot thing,” Berna says. “It's something new they can share with their friends, so it gives them bragging rights. It's a little more adventurous than following the crowd.”
Intrepid Travel offers cycling-based experiences. Saro17/Getty Images
Intrepid Travel officially expanded the age range for youth travel to 35 in February after conducting a consumer survey of more than 300,000 travelers.
“After receiving an increase in inquiries from travelers in their early 30s about joining Intrepid's youth tours, Intrepid saw an opportunity to better serve a broader age range,” the press release read. “The company conducted extensive consumer research that showed the majority of travelers between the ages of 18 and 35 prefer to travel with people their own age.”
When it comes to travel destinations, South America has emerged as a leading candidate, with Peru garnering attention, Berna said. Peru closed its tourism sites in late 2022 and early 2023 due to political unrest, but reopened them in February 2023, according to Travel Weekly.
Another top spot goes to South Korea, which Berna said is typically more affordable than Japan, and Intrepid Travel predicts global bookings to South Korea will grow 172% from 2022 to 2023.
“People want to get out and experience these stories. Post-pandemic, people want a sense of life, they want to travel again, and they want to connect,” Berna said. “They want to connect with the destination, not just with other people traveling in their group.”
