Millennials are five times more well-traveled than their grandparents, according to a new report from European online travel agency eDreams.
The report, “Travel Through the Generations,” looks at how travel has changed today compared to 50 years ago in the following countries: the United States, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Italy and Portugal. In the U.S., by the age of five, Millennials are five times more well-traveled than their grandparents were at the same age, according to the study, over 50 percent of Americans travel more than they did 10 years ago and 94 percent of Americans choose to vacation domestically. Millennials are also the most likely to discover new places to visit each year.
Today, 19 percent of U.S. Millennials have visited one to two countries by the age of five, compared to just five percent of Baby Boomers. Americans aged 18-29 today had also traveled internationally five times more than 50 + year olds had by the age of five, 2.5 times more than Germans and Swedish Millennials, who are among the two most traveled countries in this study.
Millennials in the U.S. are the most inspired by travel and the most likely to try and discover new places to visit each year, according to the report. Over a quarter of Millennials (30%) are now more likely to book a sport or adventure based vacation than they were in 2007 and 16 percent would consider a volunteer-based vacation. Beach and food inspired vacations are also on the rise, with 42 percent of 18 to 29 year old Americans saying they would be more inclined to consider a beach vacation now than they would have done 10 years ago. Millennials are also more likely to consider booking a culture-inspired vacation, with 37 percent doing so compared to just 22 percent of those aged 50 years and older.
Overall, over half (53%) of Americans had not been on an international vacation by the age of 18 and almost a third (31%) of American Baby Boomers reached the age of 50 without venturing outside of the U.S. Generally, Americans tend to begin international travel later than their European counterparts, with the average age of the first international vacation occurring at 17 years old compared to nine years for German children and 11 and 12 years for Swedes and French, respectively.
Americans appear to be more open to travel with over half (51%) saying they travel more now than they did 10 years ago and 1 in 5 (23%) saying they travel more now than they did 20 years ago. According to nearly half (48%) of U.S. travelers, the reason for this is that they believe they have more disposable income to spend on travel, with the average American spending 13.5 percent of their annual income on vacations, 5 percent more than they did in the year 2007.
Most Americans (94%) choose to travel domestically. Orlando, New York and Las Vegas are the top three destinations for domestic travel, with Vegas doubling in popularity over the last 10 years. For international travel, Mexico, Canada and the UK are the most popular destinations for U.S. travelers. Meanwhile for Europeans, the U.S. is their number one international vacation destination today. Children are becoming more active in the travel decision-making process, with 61 percent of American parents saying finding a place their kids will enjoy is the main priority when booking travel.
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