Americans are ready to travel this holiday season, and while older generations are making up a majority of those taking trips, younger generations are the ones shifting trends.
In its 2023 holiday travel survey, Deloitte reports that nearly half of Americans are planning to travel during the holiday season, with intent to travel between Thanksgiving and mid-January increasing across all age and income groups.
Gen Xers and baby boomers will each increase their share among the traveling public, growing from 26% and 21%, respectively, in 2022 to 29% for each this year. Millennials and Gen Zers each have a lower share of travel, down from 36% and 14% in 2022 to 31% and 8%, respectively. The biggest reason baby boomers say they won’t travel this year is concern over travel disruption while the top reason among millennials, Gen Xers and Gen Zers is inability to afford a trip.
The younger generations of travelers, however, are planning more trips and will spend more across the whole season, according to the survey. Gen Z and millennial travelers expect to make 2.1 and 2.2 trips across the season, respectively, while Gen X and baby boomer travelers intend to take 1.8 and 1.6 trips, respectively.
Millennials top out the overall travel spending at about $2,933 for the nearly two-month period, but Gen X and baby boomer travelers will spend more per trip at $1,534 and $1,519 respectively.
Gen Z travelers used traditional sources for making trip decisions, such as recommendations from family and friends as well as travel media websites, at roughly the same share as millennials and Gen Xers. They led the pack, however, in reliance on social media apps, long video content and short social video content.
Forty-two percent of Gen Z travelers said they used short social video content to plan their trips compared to 28% of millennials, 12% of Gen Xers and 3% of baby boomers. Gen Z sought inspiration from their favorite content creators for overall trip ideas and travel hacks, and to decide where to stay and eat.
Gen Z and millennial travelers have led the effort in seeking out more sustainable travel. Twenty-three percent of Gen Z respondents and 25% of millennials said they would prioritize hotels with higher sustainability ratings. They’re also more likely to seek out lower-emission flights.
For all generations, reconnecting with family and friends was a major motivator to travel, taking up the largest share for each group of respondents followed by time with partner/spouse, making up for missed trips and focusing on health and wellness.