Winning insights into one’s target group and current trends is key to offering products that meet the needs and requirements of them. This is why we are happy that we had the chance to talk to Veronica Freni, Senior Project Manager at Human8 - an international market research agency - and lecturer at the Hochschule München. Veronica shared with us some exciting insights on an increasingly popular travel trend in the GenZ that she elaborated in cooperation with her students at the faculty of tourism: solo travel!
In a qualitative market research study Veronica and her students explored, tested and evaluated several hypothesis regarding solo traveling. The target group consisted of young (18-26 years), male and female travel enthusiasts - half with solo travel experience, half without.
Here’s what we have taken away from their findings…
More and more members of the so-called GenZ follow the trend of traveling all by themselves. Through the years of Corona-lockdowns the thrive for seeing and exploring the world is bigger than ever. And: A large number of young adults between 18 and 26 years doesn’t want to wait for anybody to realize this dream. This is why an increasing number of GenZ travelers are solo travelers. Further motivations that encourage solo travels are the feeling to prove something to oneself (”I can do it!”), a longing for personal growth and the strive for feeling independent and free. These motivations are even stronger among female GenZ travelers.
However, the research also uncovered that young people who have never travelled alone before have also a big obstacle to overcome. The majority of the respondents who wants to experience a solo travel, at the same time also fears spending that much time alone in an environment and culture that they don’t know yet. This anxiety leads amongst others to two interesting observations:
- Social Media supports solo travels:
Solo travelers get inspiration on social media accounts, see others who successfully travel solo and most importantly, Social Media enables them to travel solo, but not alone. Via Social Media solo travelers stay connected with friends & family. And: Social Media is used to arrange spontaneous meet-ups all around the world. You travel alone, but meet with other solo travelers for dinner, a museum visit, etc. You stay flexible to do whatever you want - but are still not spending all of your time alone. - Traveling by plane is attractive for solo travelers:
Especially female solo travelers prefer traveling by plane over train. The reason for this is not only the increased speed of traveling, but also the increased feeling of safety. Traveling by plane is assessed as super safe, as you have a secured seat and are brought directly to your destination.
Another burden for solo travelers are the costs. Without being able to share the costs for the journey (e.g. hotels) with another person, solo traveling is more expensive that joint traveling. This is why young solo travelers are open and also actively looking for convincing travel deals.
These learnings lead to the conclusion that the GenZ could be addressed with attractive offers for affordable, spontaneous solo journeys all around the world - that are accompanied by recommendations of what to do and where to meet like-minded people at the destination to overcome potential anxieties. So that they are able to see the world, grow personally and travel alone, without being all alone.
Thank you for the interesting insights and the great talk, Veronica!