Gen Zs in UAE have a strong desire for international travel and a higher preference for luxury stay than other global consumers: YouGov Report

Two in five intend to take an international trip in the next 12 months as compared to three in ten who want to travel domestically. As global travel opens up after two years of restrictions amidst the pandemic,  YouGov’s latest report “Youth of Today, Travel of Tomorrow” reveals more than two in five Gen Zs (those aged 18-24 years) in the UAE (43%) said they intend to travel abroad for leisure in the next 12 months, with intent for international travel within this cohort being one of the highest across the globe.

The report aims to understand Gen Zs globally, explores what matters to them as well as uncovers their expectations from travel, and identifies the best ways to connect and engage with this generation of travellers.

Data from the whitepaper shows that three quarters of Gen Zs across the globe plan to undertake some form of travel in the next 12 months (75%). By comparing Gen Z’s future intent to take domestic or international vacations across 25 surveyed markets, we find that those in Asian countries like Indonesia (57%), Thailand (55%) and Malaysia (54%) have a greater desire to vacation domestically in the next 12 months. On the other hand, those in Europe, particularly Germany (50%), Denmark (47%) and France (43%), are more inclined to go for an international vacation. Gen Zs in the UAE stand out in terms of international travel sentiment, with a higher proportion planning to take an international trip than domestic in next 12 months (43% VS 30%).

For this study we connected research from our syndicated solutions including, YouGov Global Travel Profiles, YouGov Global Profiles, and YouGov BrandIndex whilst also leveraging YouGov Custom Research.

The data from Global Travel Profiles used in this study is based on the interviews of 25,918 adults aged 18 and over across 25 countries in April 2022. All interviews were conducted online and the results are nationally representative. The countries in the poll include Australia, France, Germany, India, the UK, the US, China, Sweden, Indonesia, Canada, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Finland, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Global Profiles tracks 1,000+ questions in 43 major markets, offering the largest globally consistent audience dataset. Sample sizes in Global Profiles vary for each market, however we endeavour to have a minimum of c. 1000 per market, and in many larger markets we will have a larger sample. Data was collected in April 2022.

YouGov BrandIndex measures brand health, from thousands of consumer interviews every day across 54 markets. The data utilised in this study is from the UK, collected in April 2022.

The Custom Research leveraged in this study covered a number of bespoke travel questions conducted across 17 markets. These were fielded between 16th November 2021 and 12th December 2021, in the below markets.

Additionally, YouGov Omnibus data was collected for this study from a nationally representative sample of 13,375 adults in 8 markets between 21st March and 30th March 2022. The markets included and sample sizes are as follows: UK (2,078), US (2,819), France (1,115), Germany (1,926), India (1,027), Indonesia (2,224), Philippines (1,112), and Australia (1,074).

We additionally collected data to support the study via YouGov Realtime across a sample size of 2,278 adults in the US between 18th March and 23rd March 2022, as well as across a sample size of 2,052 adults in the UK between February 25th and February 28th 2022. Both surveys were carried out online and have been weighted to be representative of all UK and US adults accordingly.