Cities are popular with young travellers, providing a vibrant atmosphere with plenty to see and do. WYSE Travel Confederation began tracking cities as youth travel destinations more closely in 2017, launching a new series of city ratings questions in its global New Horizons survey of youth and student travel. Our latest report looks at some of the changes between the two waves of city data but here are a few quick takeaways to share.

• Time spent by youth travellers in major cities increased in our most recent survey, from 40% in 2017 to 43% in 2023. Time spent in rural areas fell from 29% to 23% during the same period.
• Trips were shorter on average for those visiting major cities (38 days) vs others (46 days), likely due to higher costs for accommodation, food, transportation and activities in those locations.
• Surprisingly, those who spent the most time in major cities during their trip were less happy as a result of the trip!

Was urban tourism for under-30s just a post-pandemic flash or will city trips continue growing into 2025? If yes, where?

Well, it all depends, but here are two factors to consider:

• Satisfaction
  New Horizons findings indicate that ratings decreased post-pandemic for larger cities, particularly regarding overall value for money, accommodation quality and friendliness. It’s also possible that expensive major cities included in multi-stop trips may be a factor in reducing the average overall length of international youth trips. Furthermore, a lower level of happiness as a result of your city visit might also deter repeat visitation or positive word-of-mouth.
• Marketing
  London, Paris and New York are the top three cities ever visited by youth travellers, according to New Horizons surveys dating back to 2012. While London and Paris made modest gains in visitation in our 2023 survey, New York City visitation made a massive leap forward, having been visited by close to 50% of respondents compared to just over 20% in 2012. Furthermore, 47% of New Horizons respondents expressed they were ‘extremely interested’ in visiting New York City in the coming three years.

   

  Amidst a divisive broader political and social context in the USA, New York City has invested in spreading the word about its willingness to welcome everyone. Also, the city has invested in telling the world about the expertise of one if its biggest assets: its people. Given the city’s post-pandemic economic recovery campaigns like “It’s Time for New York City”, “Get Local” and the 2017 “Welcoming the World” campaign, the increase in visitation and the interest in returning to New York City as seen in the New Horizons youth travel data makes a lot of sense. New York City has just brushed clean the welcome mat for a new campaign, “With Love + Liberty, New York City”. Launched in October 2024, “With Love + Liberty, New York City” leads up to the city’s 400th anniversary in 2025.

To summarise, young travellers are increasingly visiting major cities. Unfortunately, major cities don’t always provide a high level of satisfaction for young travellers who are motivated to pack a lot into a trip, but also cost-sensitive. Accommodation providers, like hostels, in large cities have an opportunity to provide unique, budget-friendly experiences to young guests, enhancing satisfaction level and the word-of-mouth power of young travellers. Activity providers and attractions in major cities have an opportunity to work with accommodation providers to curate these experiences. And lastly, smaller city destinations have an opportunity to attract young travellers with engaging, creative and sustainable experiences just off the well-worn city sidewalk.

More insights on youth and student travel

For more insights on international youth travel, including free access to New Horizons 5: A global study of the youth and student traveller, join WYSE Travel Confederation the global network of travel industry specialists in youth, student and educational travel.