Young travellers defy recession

24 September 2013 09:11

Young travellers spent an average of £2,500 on trips abroad last year

Young travellers spent an average of £2,500 on trips abroad last year

Young people are defying the global recession to spend an increasing amount of money on travelling abroad, a new survey suggests.

A poll found young travellers spent a total of £138 billion on trips overseas last year - making up around 20% of the total £692 billion spent on tourism worldwide.

This means the average young person spent £2,500 on travelling abroad in 2012 - but savvy young travellers wanting to ensure they had peace of mind for the duration of their trip will also likely have spent a bit of cash arranging comprehensive worldwide travel insurance.

The amount young people are spending on travel has soared by 40% since 2007, according to the global survey by The World Youth Student and Educational Travel confederation (WYSE).

The group polled more than 34,000 people aged 18 to 35 for its New Horizons III survey, with respondents hailing from 137 countries worldwide. Results were divided almost evenly between travellers from the West and those from emerging countries such as China and Latin America.

It found that young travellers have made an average of at least two trips abroad each year for the past five years, spending a total of 58 days overseas in 2012.

The findings also suggest the "bank of mum and dad" remains an essential source of funding, with parents providing financial support for 44% of trips made by people under the age of 20.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of young travellers said they were using trips abroad to boost their CVs. Many of them travelled in order to take on work experience, learn new languages or simply to learn more about the world around them.

WYSE spokeswoman Laura Daly said young people were exploring further afield and travelling more frequently.

"The truth is that when the going gets tough, the young keep on travelling," she said. "Rather than simply being seen as a leisure activity, travel is now increasingly viewed as a way of having experiences that help to enhance a CV - and to explore new cultures."

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