WYSE Travel Confederation’s most recent survey of youth and student travel, New Horizons 5, found that 75% of youth travellers outbound from the USA were on an international trip abroad for a purpose other than leisure. The majority of these trips were for study or language learning. Smaller proportions were related to work experience, volunteering and au pair abroad.
More broadly, outbound US youth travellers indicated a relatively high level of personal income. However, personal income only accounted for an average of 25% of their total trip funding. Other main funding sources for travel included own savings (25%), parents/family (24%) and scholarships (19%).
Only 28% of outbound US youth reported that they were on vacation trips. Holiday trips were most common for those travelling to Asia (34%), whereas language learning and study trips were more likely to be destined for Europe. Africa was the destination region with the highest proportion of study trips (36%).
Over 40% of outbound US youth trips were 14 days or less and these were predominantly for leisure travel. About a third of outbound US youth trips lasted more than a month and these were predominantly for a purpose other than vacation.
The largest group of US outbound respondents to the New Horizons 5 survey were travelling with friends (32%), while 25% reported travelling with family and 24% alone.
How youth from the USA rate European cities
The New Horizons survey asks young travellers to rate cities around the world that they have visited. The latest survey found that the largest share of outbound youth travellers from the US went to Europe, so it is interesting to understand how young American travellers rated European cities.
Overall rankings for European cities suggest negative effects of price and city size on the visitor experience. London and Paris, among the top city destinations worldwide, were ranked low by youth visitors from the US. This was primarily because of the perceived poor value for money in these cities.
Even so, 37% of US outbound youth travellers indicated they would delay their next trip abroad due to rising costs of living. Other potentially deterring aspects to international travel indicated by outbound US youth travellers were political/social unrest (41%), public health issues (39%) and personal identity (32%). Five percent of young American travellers said that public health issues caused them to delay travel abroad. Furthermore, LGBTQ+-identifying youth travellers from the US seem to have more concerns related to their personal identity while travelling than do other youth travellers from the US. Asia and Latin America were the destination regions most likely to raise anxiety for LGBTQ+ US youth while travelling.
WYSE Tip
Given the large share of young Americans headed out on non-leisure travel pursuits, hostels and ground transportation providers would be smart to consider how to connect with educational institutions and the visiting students they are hosting. While you may often imagine the young person travelling alone as a backpacker, solo travellers can also be a student abroad for an exchange semester. Accommodation and transportation services are key elements upon arrival in a host destination, as well as for secondary travel to surrounding cities (or countries) for cultural activities and attractions.
More insights for your business in youth and student travel
For more insights on international youth travel, including free access to the publication 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.