Tourism for the under 30s, as seen through social networks.
Exclusive research for the BTO 2014 public, from Studio Giaccardi & Associates and G&M Network Srl.

Today, young people under 30 are tourists or, increasingly, travellers who have a complex system of tools, content, proposals and opportunities profoundly different from those available just a decade ago.

Certain factors, including the economic crisis and the spread of digital technology and culture, have given rise to new players in the tourism industry, helping to evolve choices, behaviours and patterns of consumption, but above all, to redefine the concept of tourism itself.

So much so that today tourism is a complex system that is constantly changing due to the constant supply of content as well as online and offline practices created from the ground up by travellers, operators, citizens and supply chains.

The real stars of this new show and of this different paradigm of tourism are the young people themselves; those under 30 who have begun to experiment with the dimension of travel, and are already familiar with two basic factors: digital technology and relationships on social networks.

Young people under 30 do not want know what metasearch engines are, they don’t want to discuss whether or not a positive review brings in revenue; they don’t care if AIRBNB is legal or not: they do not need to adapt to tourism innovation – they use it.

But how do they do it?
How often?
What tools do they use to decide, and to purchase the trip?
And to what extent are individuals influenced by the social networks to which they belong?
Above all, how can this information help those who now develop, design and plan tourist hotels and destinations?

The research TRAVEL YOUNG. TRAVEL DIFFERENT aims to investigate this world of young people in order to understand what and how much is different in the way they travel, compared to the over 30s.