Younger travellers may be the key to tourism’s immediate recovery, says a newly released survey by online marketplace TourRadar, which reports that 42 percent of respondents under the age of 35 still hope to travel in 2020. They are also less inclined than other demographic groups to wait for a COVID-19 vaccine or acquired immunity before doing so.
Comparatively, the June travel habits poll of 5,000 TourRadar global email subscribers in English-speaking markets including Canada, says only 28% of those over 55 years still hope to travel this year.
“The tourism industry is experiencing a rapid shift in its marketing focus for the immediate future,” says TourRadar CMO Christian Wolters. “Travellers over the age of 55 have been a driving force for tourism over the past decade, but when it comes to travel’s recovery, 18 to 34-year-olds will lead the way in the short term.”
Aizaz Sheikh, Global Marketing Director of Toronto-based G Adventures says the company’s own research aligns with that of TourRadar, with millennials (25-39) more likely to travel first, with 20% saying they want to travel as soon as late-2020.
“This is a generation that really wants to make a difference in the world, so they will not only be key to the return of travel, but also how we can travel in a more responsible way post-pandemic,” says Sheikh.
Despite being less wary of travelling during a pandemic, young travellers are not without new expectations, according to the TourRadar report.
Among them:
• Flexibility: As a result of COVID-19, 67% of travellers now expect travel companies to offer the ability to change dates or receive a credit voucher.
• Health & Insurance: 51% expect access to travel insurance covering COVID-19-related situations and 50% expect mandatory health assessments of all travellers on-site prior to travel.
Citing its own research and other published reports, TourRadar also offers the following data:
• Social beings: Nearly 90% of Gen Z members get trip planning inspiration from online social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
• Adventurous spirits: In 2019, almost 30% of the tours booked on TourRadar by 18 to 34-year-olds were those that fall under the adventure travel style, compared to only 11% travellers over the age of 55 for that category.
• Great outdoors: Businesses offering RV trips and glamping have also seen success so far in 2020 as travellers, especially younger ones, look to get outdoors.
• This is private: 90% of survey respondents showed interest in embarking on a multi-day tour once they are able to travel again and 66% said they would prefer to take a guided group tour following COVID-19. 68% of participants said the situation caused by COVID-19 either had no impact on their likelihood to take a private guided tour or made it less likely.
• Size matters: The majority of participants (53%) are inclined to tour with smaller groups of up to 10 people; this includes people interested exclusively in private self-guided experiences (15%). A significant portion (31%) would also travel in medium-sized groups of up to 20 people.
• Euro star: 63% of respondents of all ages said they want to visit Europe on their next vacation.
Founded in 2010, TourRadar is the world’s largest online marketplace for multi-day tours working with over 2,000 tour operators to offer more than 40,000 tours in over 200 countries. The company has close to 20 offices around the world including Toronto.