Researchers have looked at the travel habits of the average child now, compared to previous generations, and revealed that today’s youngsters have seen almost as much of the world in their first 10 years as their grandparents did in an entire lifetime!
The study, carried out by Royal Caribbean, has shown that the average child has been abroad six times before their 10th birthday, while their grandparents have only been abroad eight times in their life. Moreover, the majority of parents polled claimed that, while travel is a normal part of their own child’s life, they only ventured out of the country twice before the age of 10.
According to the research, today’s 10-year-olds have been on an average of two
cruises, four ferries, and seven aeroplanes. They have also tasted street food
abroad, visited a foreign market or souk, learned as many as six new foreign
phrases while abroad – and even been for a ride on a Tuk Tuk.
In fact, as many as 83% of the 2000 parents who took part in the study said
their children are better travelled and more cultured than they ever were at
the same age, while a further 73% said as a result their children can speak more
foreign words than they can.
81% felt their children were lucky that their horizons had been widened by
travelling to other places. However, a more begrudging 83% complained that
their children had no idea how lucky they were to have all the trips away and
holidays that they do. 68% said their children are actively involved in the
researching and planning of holidays.
Generational expert Dr Paul Redmond, who analysed the findings of the study,
commented: “For the travel industry, Generation Z is incredibly important. Not
only do they exert a powerful influence on their parents, they are a generation
that care more about experiences and travel than any other generation. So it is
important the travel industry listens to them – the annual, two week ‘fly and
flop’ holiday on the beach is not going to cut it for them and holiday
companies will need to take this into consideration when shaping the holidays
of the future.”