Travel motivations change with age — it’s a logical statement that you can probably see in your own travel history. Perhaps early on you travelled for education or as a child on a family vacation. Later in life, travel may have been more orientated towards relaxation or fun on vacation. Business and professional development may also have been more common as you aged. Changes to the motivations to travel can even be seen within the youth travel segment where travellers aged 15 to 30 typically blend educational endeavours and skills development with leisure activities.

The outcomes of travel also most likely change as we age. However, have travel outcomes differed for the same age cohort over time? Is travel more impactful for travellers now aged 20 to 22 than it was for travellers in this age group ten or twenty years ago?

These are some of the questions we can dig into with WYSE Travel Confederation’s 20+ years of survey data on youth travel. WYSE Travel Confederation’s survey, New Horizons, is the only recurring global study of youth travel, tracking the motivations, behaviours and outcomes of young travellers since 2002.

Gen Z is today’s youth traveller. Born between 1995 and 2012, Gen Z is the focus of much attention as ‘digital natives’ associated with certain lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours, shaping everything from communication, work, social causes, the environment and more.

Something interesting was revealed about Gen Z travellers in our last New Horizons survey. When we compared travellers aged 20 to 22 who answered the surveys in 2012 and 2023, it appeared that travellers aged 20 to 22 in 2023 perceived more positive outcomes from travel than did travellers aged 20 to 22 back in 2012. In other words, Gen Z travellers more strongly agree that travel has provided them with positive personal outcomes such as improved language skills, cultural appreciation and self-knowledge.

This difference seems to suggest a generational shift in travel outcomes for young people. Such shifts move slowly and can be related to a variety of factors that shape a generation’s lifestyles and outlooks. A few other trends related to young travellers indicated by New Horizons data over time relate to environmental concerns, traveller identities, and use of travel agents, among others.

Are today’s travel experiences more impactful and meaningful for young people? Or has the perception of travel simply changed? Either way, this shift seems to suggest more demand for purposeful travel experiences along with closer scrutiny of the returns on investment in those experiences.

What impact does your activity, programme or product have on young travellers? Showcase your product and impact to key tourism buyers at WYSTC, the essential global youth travel industry event taking place 23-26 September 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal. 

Get more Gen Z travel insights in New Horizons 5: A global study of the youth and student traveller — it’s free with your WYSE Travel Confederation membership.