Students Looking For Overseas Adventures

For those looking to tap into the student travel market, new data from Student Universe – a Flight Centre Travel Group company – indicates that young Americans are favouring international over domestic travel.

The findings come following record Black Friday sales, with bookings to Europe by US travellers between the ages of 18 to 25 having grown by 61% year over year.

Following a difficult time for international travel amidst the pandemic, the figures suggest that travel is well and truly back — with young adults reveling in the opportunity to head overseas and experience the world like never before and making the most of special offers during Black Friday.

With the overall value of student and youth travel totaling $330bn globally, young Americans are making a huge contribution to the overall bounce back of global travel.

Steven de Blois, Global Managing Director for StudentUniverse, observed that: “After a challenging, few years for the global travel industry, we’re thrilled to see confidence in booking international adventures is back for young Americans. We can’t overstate the value and importance that these travel experiences have on young adults in their formative years — the new countries and cultures they experience during their travels have a real, impactful influence on their lives.”

The data indicated that young Americans’ booking habits have also changed. Booking lead times are moving in favor of travelers booking earlier, rather than at the last minute. People booking to travel in the next two weeks declined by over 40%, while those booking to travel over four months away rose by 85% on last year’s bookings.

When it comes to how young travellers are booking, it seems that apps are increasingly popular. Over Black Friday weekend, more than a third of bookings through StudentUniverse were on the dedicated app, suggesting younger generations are choosing to adopt modern technology and have confidence in booking through less traditional forms.

One thing has remained the same though — the most popular route for young Americans to book is still an overseas trip to Europe. Transatlantic bookings between the US and UK were up 42% year on year.

Go to www.studentuniverse.com for more.