GENERATION Z (Gen Z) travelers are a new brand of young globetrotters after the millennials, shaking up the travel industry more than ever. Like millennials, they would go the extra mile for travel, with very specific needs.
Gen Z travelers grew up with the internet as an integral part of their lives. Other than internet connectivity, they also want adventure and are motivated by social media, such as Instagram.
So where in Asia would be the best destination for them?
Bespoke holiday provider The Holiday Place has put together the Generation Z Travel Index (GZTI) to provide insights to Gen Z travelers.
The GZTI analyzed “various different factors that students and those under 20 decided were important to them while traveling.”
“We thoroughly researched surveys, blog posts, social media, polls and more in order to come up with a truly exhaustive list of important factors that Generation Z considers when traveling,” The Holiday Place wrote.
The factors included things like budget, off the beaten path, eco-friendliness, and everything that makes the trip affordable, sustainable, and envy-inducing.
The Holiday Place then ranked countries around the world that offered the best of the best for categories like budget, internet connection, Instagrammability, socially conscious, eco-friendly, adventure, off the beaten track, and outdoors.
For each of the categories, each country was scored from one to five, with five being the highest.
These scores are then added together to get the final GZTI score, with a total of 40 being the highest available. Countries are ranked based on their scores.
So, which Asian destination came out on top?
Japan ranked highly for budget (4.6) and Instagrammability, with a total of 92,455,882 hashtags for the country. This is unsurprising, considering how many articles there have been about the most Instagrammable places and the most Instagrammable food and drinks.
The East Asian country also did pretty well for its eco-friendly and off the beaten path scores.
The Japanese government copes waste problems by implementing an aggressive recycling policy. Authorities and businesses have also adopted bioplastics to make garbage bags, shopping bags and product containers to improve their eco-friendliness.
And with an archipelago that stretches nearly 3,000 kilometers from north to south, there are heaps of off the beaten path places and roads less traveled left to discover.
Japan offers a wide range of natural sights from the drift ice in the seas off Hokkaido to the mangrove jungles in Okinawa. In between, there are majestic volcanoes, breathtaking coastlines, vast forests, and world heritage sites.
Other Asian countries that performed fairly well in The Holiday Place’s GZTI include Thailand (12), Singapore (14), India (19), and China (20).
Source : Travel Wire Asia
