GEN Z & TRAVEL MIND

A generation probably never understood by baby-boomers and probably seem like rivals for gen Y could be thought the other way.

A generation born with the high technology was born with a mind set of fast consuming with sustainable life. That leads travel agencies, have been organizing trips for decades, to create a back up plan. To understand the future travel mind, we need to take a glance at this Gen Z population first. There are only two examples I would like to put forth. First was an anonymous comment I came across on youtube: “I like how older generation tell us to get off our phones and learn about real world, but as soon as we have an opinion on our conservative politicians, social prejudice and falling economy, it doesn’t matter we are young.” And the other was pointed out by Coney Seemiller: “We can tackle the biggest problems on our society faces if we care less about how people identify and move past problems like; ‘which bathroom should they use?’ , the instead focus on issues like ‘How can we conserve water in said bathrooms?’”

These two are total clear summaries of how the next adults will care about. The next generation can be named as social justice fighters, hashtag activists, analytical individualists… They don’t like to be stuck in just one identity. They want to put less effort and gain more. They are 30% of todays population who will lead us in future. When it comes to travel, I don’t really believe these people will be interest in 3S based trips (Sea – sun – sand). Of course selfies or bare foot pictures at beach beats a summer spent at office, but I see having a real #traveler hashtag can never be comparable. We are talking about travelers who know visiting one city is never enough to understand the whole country. Or the same travelers read feedbacks and prefer to experience to make their own comments. As a licensed tour guide, I don’t believe they are interested in booking a tour or being a part of a group. Instead, the research part is the beginning of the journey. After all this effort, they like to be individual as they think the life is!

* Packing smart doesn’t mean to be boring:

2 days or 8 days, doesn’t matter, it has been always important to pack light for traveling. However this is changing. Our luggages has become lighter since the leaders of accessible fashion preferred the sport chic style for daily outfits. A cool outfit can be comfy as well, but most importantly should be picturesque.

* Neighter individual nor with the group!

Once they dream for it! When they see the place at their fav music video, they capture the location and decide for destination! The difference is they don’t only dream it. They do plan! Dreaming probably lasts for couple seconds until they see another picture. But if they adore and really wish for it, they start for researches. Calculate and accept the percentage of their plan to be true. Therefore after all of this effort we cannot expect them to stuck with a group and duties. Or if they book a guide by chance they would wish for a guide to be fast, interesting, exciting and surprising. *Unique and Experimental: Travel with a partner or friends, or for solo travelers the people they met on the way can be the highlight of their journey, not only the destination. If the hotel bar has a specialty or the city has a unique feature can be a reason for them to travel. Travel more often. *No-Go for total-waste hotels:

Yes we care about sustainable life but we do care now! But at this age of 13-14, being aware of the damage caused by unsustainable formations is admirable. If hotel wastes a lot of food, if the travel agency is anti-lgbt, if the guide hates animals, they will be lost at the very beginning. For Gen-Z, being “anti-any-religion-doesn’t-matter” is equal to be racist! How would they know? How they wouldn’t? We prepared the infrastructures of the platforms where everyone can leave a feedback. There is media! And if they notice that restaurant of the hotel is serving yesterdays yogurt in a different form today, they would never hesitate to write about it. Oh do you think, this would be an idea to recycle? But for them, there is no need to produce more than already needed! * Cash-Free Trips We have thought to carry cash to bargain best. But for gen z, carrying cash is the beginning of maximilizing their bag. May be for small amounts fine but if you are a store owner be sure you are friends with banks and pos machines. * Nish market – The other side of travel:

Traveling and visiting the highlights of cities can be the first day thing to do, but the 90percent of the trip should be completing the satisfaction of the traveler. Pleasures would change according the traveler. Here the nish market fulfills the needings. The alternatives such as, food tours, street-art tours, any type of workshops, modern art tours, outdoor sports, biking routes, and any other interesting alternatives should be added to the list of host travel agency or concierge. Sometimes we Gen Y can feel jealous but should be sure that we are ready for the next kinda travel mind. Cheers. Sanem Yücesoy foodandfashionmag@gmail.com