Culture Trip Is Becoming the Go to Platform for Gen Z Travelers Around the World

The travel startup is capitalising on its exclusive research into the generational shift to attract the highest proportion of Gen Z travelers amongst travel platforms globally

LONDON, March 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture Trip, the break out travel platform, is fast becoming the go-to place for inspiration, planning and booking for younger, curious travellers.  

In the last 12 months, global data from SimilarWeb has shown that Culture Trip has attracted on average 7% more of the Gen Z audience worldwide (between the ages of 18 and 25) compared to Lonely Planet, AirBnB, TripAdvisor, Klook, and the major online travel agents Booking.com and Expedia.

The travel start-up, with offices in London, New York, Tel Aviv and Shanghai, is responding to this marked generational shift in travel habits by launching a range of exciting experiences that its users can book directly on the website and via the popular app.

The acceleration of its commercial offering for Gen Z was inspired by Culture Trip's Cultural Mindset Study, a strategic 9-month in depth research of the travel habits and cultural attitudes of UK and US consumers, to understand the motivations and needs of modern travelers. 

"We are living in an interconnected and open world where cultural curiosity and travel is fundamental to how we live - and what people value," says Dr Kris Naudts, CEO-Founder, of the study findings.

"Younger generations are 'global citizens' almost from birth. 18% of all US/UK respondents in our study were born outside those countries. Among 25-34 year olds, this number rises to 32%. It's our mission to inspire people to go beyond their cultural boundaries and explore what's special, unique and meaningful about a place. We all feel very strongly about this at Culture Trip and know that travelers deeply care, especially in the current political climate."

Other findings from Culture Trip's Cultural Mindset Study include:

• Over 60% of Millennials and Gen Z consider themselves as 'culturally immersive' - compared to only 35% of Baby Boomers and 45% Gen X.
• Younger generations actively embrace the unknown. 68% of travelers think it's worth taking risks to have an adventure but it's particularly true of young people: 81% of those under 35. Older generations tend to see travel as a way to escape and relax.
• Gen Z are very influenced by their peers. 59% of those aged 18-24 don't want to feel out of touch or left behind so will travel to the same places their friends do. It's also the reason why they over-index on using social media.
• Millennials prefer private rentals and boutique hotels and are twice as likely as older generations to stay in one, whereas Gen Z prefer to stay with friends or family and the majority of students (62%) travel for that reason.
• Millennials and Gen Z prioritize food and drink and experiences over accommodation when it comes to travel spending.
• 86% of Gen Z and Millennials believe that mental health is asimportant as physical  health, and those who travel frequently believe that even more so - 95%.
• Sustainability in travel is high on younger travelers' agenda. 37% of Millennials try to limit how much they travel for environmental purposes, compared to only 15% of Baby Boomers. 40% of Gen Z and Millennials worry about the negative environmental impact of tourism.

"The Cultural Mindset Study quantified the needs and preferences of Gen Z and Millennial travelers so we're focusing on curating the special, the quirky, the tasty and the memorable," says Ben Shacham, Culture Trip's Chief Revenue Officer for Travel.

"Every month our network of local insiders produce 1000s of individual recommendations for experiences, places to stay and to eat. We're now scaling our contextual commerce model by categorising our 15,000 handpicked hotels and 35,000 recommendations to make it easier for travelers to find and book their perfect trip."

Natalie Malevsky, VP of Product Marketing at Culture Trip led the study and added, "The travel industry is being redefined by the attitudes and expectations of younger generations. Travel is now part of identity. Brands that understand and appeal to our inner explorers will win, and that's exactly what we're here to do at Culture Trip."  

About the Research

The Cultural Mindset study is based on in-depth interviews with 150 consumers and a survey of 10,500 respondents in the UK and US, of which 15% included over 18 Generation Z and 17% Millennial. The survey was conducted amongst an audience who in the three months prior to fieldwork had been active in activities defined as the 'experience market'. The Study redefines a modern zeitgeist, exploring people's attitudes towards culture and new experiences, spending priorities and motivations for travel. The study was independently conducted by Crowd DNA on behalf of Culture Trip.

About Culture Trip

Culture Trip inspires curious travellers to go beyond their cultural boundaries and connect with the world around them. We make travel planning easy and fun, covering the world with award-winning travel stories and videos, insider guides to vibrant cities, trusted and bookable experiences and handpicked places to stay in the coolest neighbourhoods. In 2019 alone, we won more than 20 awards for our travel coverage, and our app was named App of the Day by Apple in the UK and the US. Culture Trip has shown stellar growth: monthly unique visitors have gone from 4 million to nearly 20 million, cross-platform social followers have increased from 1 million to 8 million, and app downloads have leapt from 50,000 to more than 2.7 million. Culture Trip videos have been viewed more than 2 billion times since 2016.