A new survey on the vacation spending habits of Gen Z travelers from StudentUniverse, a Flight Centre Travel Group company, has revealed that 78 percent of Gen Z travelers intend to take a vacation within the next 12 months.
According to StudentUniverse’s 2024 “State of Student Travel Report,” a third of the student and youth market prefers to spend money on travel and experiences as opposed to things. The latest survey reinforces these findings by diving deeper into spending habits. According to the survey 18.3 percent of Gen Z travelers in the U.S. indicated they allocated 40 percent or more of their disposable income towards vacations and an additional 47.8 percent indicated they allocate 20 to 40 percent of their disposable income towards vacationing.
Roughly one in 10 Gen Z travelers are allocating over $2,000 per vacation. That said, as a significant portion of Gen Z consists of students, it was not surprising to see that most are budgeting less for vacations with 23.4 percent indicating they allocate $500 or less per vacation and 33.6 percent indicating they allocate anywhere from $500 to $1,000. The remaining 32 percent are allocating between $1,000 and $2,000 per vacation. The good news: As we continue to see Gen Z’s spending power grow, we will likely see these numbers increase as they continue to prioritize travel experiences.
According to the survey, the most common method among Gen Z travelers looking to save up for a vacation is through work (94.4). With a significant number of Gen Z travelers still in school it comes as little surprise that 21.7 percent indicated they will ask relatives to assist them with vacation funds. The next most common method for earning money for a vacation is selling possessions, with 21.3 percent indicating they do so. The survey found that 8.4 percent indicated they’ve turned to clinical trials to earn money for vacations while another 6 percent indicated they’ve taken out a loan to pay for vacation. Although 2 percent indicated they’ve raised money for a vacation through crowdfunding, there is some speculation that this may become more commonplace. Separately, just under half (46.8 percent) indicated they are taking advantage of loyalty programs and points/miles to pay for trips.
The survey showed that for Gen Z, transportation is their top spending priority. While this can partially be attributed to higher airfare prices, it also aligns with the idea that Gen Z travelers are willing to spend on higher transportation costs to get to their desired destinations. Culinary travel appears to be popular among Gen Z travelers as they ranked spending on food and restaurants as their second highest priority. Spending on experiences and attractions was ranked as the third highest priority, followed by shopping and spending on souvenirs. Gen Z has largely been driving the popularity of sober tourism and, as such, spending on alcoholic beverages and partying ranked among the lowest alongside, almost ironically, spending on wellness and spa experiences.
Good to know: As they’re prioritizing transportation as their top spend, it appears some of those funds are being used to offset the impact of their trip. To that point, 23 percent of student and youth travelers said they are willing to pay an optional carbon offset fee when booking air travel. This focus on sustainability is further reinforced by the fact that 50 percent of respondents indicated they prioritize booking through platforms with strong green credentials.
Source: StudentUniverse
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