The youth and student travel industry has experienced a 37% increase in the last 10 years with up to 187 million travellers creating a market value of US$165 billion in 2010. While increasing in size and importance, and becoming mature and competitive, consistent documentation and resultant available data have struggled to keep pace with the development of the industry.

Collation of existing data through secondary sources has resulted in this publication: Youth and Student Travel Market – Data, Statistics and Trends, Industry Review no. 1. The study starts with a look at the latest available Global Tourism figures and the broad youth and student travel market, setting the context, before looking at six selected industry sectors (Language, Higher Education, Exchange/Work Experience, Volunteer, Backpack, Accommodation).