We launched our annual Voice of a Generation survey over the summer and now, thanks to all your support and participation, we’re here to announce all the fascinating responses! We asked you guys if you’d prefer to go hiking or cycling, which celebs you want to laze on the beach with, and whether you’d trust a robot to book your perfect getaway or not. And now we know exactly how the Gen-Zs and Millennials of Canada think and feel and plan.
Knowledge ensures we give y’all the experiences YOU want, and, I think it’s fair to say that our collective brain has grown three sizes larger with all these responses.
Want to get to know your own generation better and help define the new chapters of travel? Let’s dive in!
Take me away… A secret place… A sweet escape!
Whether you’re into Girl Math or you operate on the philosophy of ‘money comes back’, we can all agree that making memories and seeing the world is a more beautiful thing than getting a lil extra on a paycheck. Okay, maybe we don’t all agree, but 55% of Gen-Z and Millennial respondents said they would give up a pay raise in exchange for more PTO!
You’re placing value on time off, because the office is not life, and this is furthered by the fact that 60% of travelers cited that a common reason for them to plan a vacation is to avoid burnout and/or needing a break. Additionally, 50% of travelers selected ‘looking to explore new destinations’ as a top reason to travel as well.
Escapism 🤝 Curiosity – that’s how you get your pocketful of sunshine.
Image source:Contiki
Putting the world first
With overtourism on the rise, many travelers are looking to spare certain cities a few extra travelers and are looking for destination dupes instead. 27% of our travelers said they would absolutely travel somewhere else, while 43% said they would look for an alternative destination.
Additionally, 11% replied that they would take strides to travel more responsibly instead. Makes sense, seeing as many of our audience are avid sustainability warriors as well! How important is selecting sustainable travel experiences, you ask? Well, 49% noted that traveling as sustainably as possible was definitely important to them and something they take into consideration.
Get in globetrotter, we’re on a health kick
If your TikTok feed is flooded with stretching routines, endless protein hacks, and newly formed run clubs taking over the parks; then it shouldn’t surprise you that health is on the forefront of many Gen-Z and Millennials’ minds! Not a bad thing, health is wealth after all, and travel is good for the mind and body – we’ve got a study all about it, baby.
When asked how important maintaining a wellness routine while traveling is, 61% agreed that it was important to them, and plenty of you were interested in booking various active trips like hiking (66%), cycling (40%), rafting (39%), and running (28%).
On top of this, the interest in sober vacations is high, with 80% of respondents saying they would like this kind of getaway. What would they do instead? Well, the most popular activity was exploring nature-focussed destinations (40%) like national parks and mountains, showing again that wellness of body and mind is more important to the younger generations than partying the night away.
Image source:Contiki
Doomscroll no more
AI is everywhere! Or, well, not quite. It’s not on the beach sipping fruity drinks from a coconut husk and it certainly isn’t scaling mountains with boots full of snow, gulping down the fresh air.
There’s definitely more trust in AI these days, but you guys don’t seem keen to let it book your entire vacation just yet. 57% said you wouldn’t trust it to, with only 19% saying you would, and 24% leaving it at a maybe.
And, on the topic of leaving tech behind, when asked whether Gen-Z and Millennials would abandon their phones for a week in exchange for a free week-long vacation, an overwhelming 88% said yes! Tech fatigue is real…
Trip down memory lane…
Not all vacations we take are about exploring new and fabulous lands. Sometimes it’s about reconnecting, or traveling back home for a little while, wherever that may be. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and who doesn’t want to crawl back into their childhood every now and again?
Turns out, 57% of travelers said they would be interested in going on a similar trip to one they had in their childhood, and 25% have already done that! So, now we’re curious. Where is this nostalgic trip? Who is it with? How can you recapture that magic? We’re all longing for the good old days 🧚
Image source:Contiki
Never alone!
I mean, if you know Contiki at all then you know our whole thing is solo travel in a group – duh. It takes away all the stress and planning of seeing the world alone, without totally abandoning you to the whims of foreign destinations. Armed with a like-minded pack of travelers, you can do some self-reflecting and still have a bestie to debrief with at the end of the night.
Imagine our relief when 71% of y’all said you want to go on a solo group vacation!
Get to know the world and the people surrounding you on a deeper level; that’s kind of what it’s all about, right?
