Do you take four or more trips per year? Splurge on dream destinations? Get inspired to travel by pop culture? If you said yes to all of these questions, you’re probably a Gen Z or millennial traveler.
According to a recent TripIt survey, Gen Zers and millennials travel more than older generations of travelers (i.e., Gen Xers and boomers), prefer to splurge on dream trips versus sticking to more affordable destinations, and source trip inspiration from pop culture, such as TV shows, concerts, and sporting events.
And while the two generations share a worldview on many aspects of travel—e.g., 59% of Gen Zers and 58% of millennials plan to take a pop-culture trip in the next year—there are some differences between them, too. For instance, nearly half (44%) of Gen Zers said they take four or more trips per year, but just over a third (34%) of millennials said the same.
Read more: 4 Trends Shaping Pop-Culture Travel in 2024
Half of Gen Zers and millennials say music motivates—but work waylays—travel
Despite their appetite to travel, securing time off from work can prove a challenge for both generations. About half of Gen Zers (53%) and millennials (46%) interested in taking pop-culture trips said work prevents them from traveling as much as they want to. Nearly a quarter (23%) of Gen Zers, newer to the workforce, said they feel anxious about securing enough time off from work to be able to take the pop-culture trip of their dreams. With more years in the workforce, millennials worry slightly less: just 14% agreed. (Accrued PTO FTW.)
What they’re not worried about? Cost. Nearly half (49%) of Gen Zers and millennials agreed that they would rather splurge and travel to a dream destination than travel somewhere more affordable.
So, where are these travelers off to? For starters, music festivals. More than half of Gen Zers (56%) and millennials (60%) plan to travel to a music festival this year. In fact, half (50%) of millennials said they’re intentionally choosing to see multiple artists for the price of one music festival, instead of going to individual concerts (45%).
But stadium concerts appeal to the younger generations, too. More than half (56%) said they prefer a global star’s stadium concert over seeing a lesser-known artist at a small venue. Kendyl Grender, budget-travel hacking coach, plans to travel to Amsterdam to see Taylor Swift perform later this year. Abigail Akinyemi, travel and lifestyle content creator and solo-travel expert, can relate: she traveled to Cardiff, United Kingdom last year to see Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour.
Tip: Want to plan a trip around a concert or music festival this year? Check out these 5 music cities in the U.S. for inspo.
Most Gen Z and millennial travelers rely on social media for planning trips
And then there’s sports—75% of millennials and 65% of Gen Zers are interested in or have plans to go to an NFL game in 2024—and social media to inspire trips. The majority (69%) of Gen Z and millennial travelers rely on social media to get their ideas for pop-culture trips. Nearly one in four (23%) Gen Zers and millennials who have taken a pop-culture trip visited a location they saw in a viral social media post. Gen Zers, in particular, scour Instagram (49%) and TikTok (44%) for inspiration.
These generations of travelers are also more likely to post about their trips on social media, too. Nearly half of Gen Zers (46%) and millennials (41%) said they prefer to share their trips with their social media followers versus keeping them private for friends and family. In fact, some say their content was the reason they loved their trip: 57% of Gen Zers and millennials said a reason a trip lived up to expectations was the great content they got for social media.
As generations who’ve grown up doing it for the ‘gram, it’s not surprising there’s a sustained give and take: you see a destination on social media, feel inspired to book a trip, post about said trip on your own channels, inspire your own followers to go—and the beat goes on.
And if you need new destination inspiration, it’s just a matter of waiting for the next season of your favorite TV show. Looking at you, The White Lotus.
Methodology: TripIt partnered with Edelman Data & Intelligence to conduct a 10-minute, quantitative survey between October 27-November 6, 2023, fielded among 1,000 Americans, nationally representative by age, gender, ethnicity, and region. In the survey, pop-culture trips were defined as trips that have been inspired by entertainment, including celebrities, movies, music, television, video games, sports, entertainment news, fashion, various forms of technology, etc. For certain statistics in the report, Gen Z and millennial responses were combined to accommodate sample size limitations.
