NATIONAL REPORT—According to a survey of 7,000 travelers, Gen Z and Millennials make sustainability and overtourism prevention central to trip planning and 94 percent say they are willing to travel off-peak to reduce crowding. They back demand-management measures at popular sites, with 83 percent supporting restrictions that protect natural and cultural assets even if it limits their access.
Gen Z and Millennial travelers are rewriting the rules on when and where they go and what they’ll give up to protect the places at the top of their bucket lists. Expedia Group’s new study, Travel with Purpose: How Gen Z & Millennials Are Redefining the Journey, surveyed 7,000 travelers across seven markets and found overtourism and environmental impact are now central to how younger travelers plan trips. They’re willing to travel off-peak, choose less crowded alternatives, and back measures that reduce pressure on popular destinations.
As Expedia Group looks to the next 30 years, and travelers head outside in record numbers, the company is launching Expedia Trails Fund, a multi-year commitment to restore, protect, and future-proof the trails, parks, and coastlines that inspire millions of trips.
For partners across lodging, destinations, activities, and transportation, this is both a responsibility and an opportunity: meet demand for more purposeful travel while helping protect the world’s most loved places.
Sustainability is Now a Routine Part of Trip Planning
Sustainability has shifted from a niche concern to a routine part of trip planning with most travelers now actively weighing environmental concerns.
- Sixty percent of travelers say they consider their environmental impact more now than they did three to five years ago. Among Gen Z, that rises to 68 percent, compared with 52 percent of Millennials, signaling a stronger shift among the youngest travelers.
- In the last 12 months, 76 percent say environmental or social issues influenced their travel plans at least once (choice of destination, timing, or activities).
- Within that, there’s a generational contrast. Ninety-one percent of Gen Z travelers surveyed said environmental or social concerns influenced their travel plans at least once in the past year, compared to 62 percent of Millennials surveyed.
Environmental concerns and overtourism are a default part of planning how and when Gen Z chooses to travel, whereas it’s considered but less critical for Millennials.
Travelers are Crowd Conscious & Ready for Responsible Tourism
Younger travelers aren’t just talking about overtourism; they are changing their plans to avoid it.
- Ninety-four percent say they would be willing to travel off‑peak if it helped reduce crowding and preserve the local environment.
- Ninety-four percent say they would choose a less crowded alternative destination or attraction offering similar experiences to avoid crowds.
- Eighty-three percent say they would support measures at popular sites to prevent overcrowding and protect natural/cultural assets, even if it limits their own access. Within that, 42 percent of Gen Z travelers strongly agree, versus 34 percent of Millennials.
Together, these findings show younger travelers are giving destinations permission to manage demand differently from steering trips into off‑peak seasons to nudging people toward quieter alternatives and backing measures to control crowding.
Travelers Deeply Care About Nature, Communities, & Impact
For island getaways in particular, travelers place especially high importance on destinations that protect nature and wildlife, support local communities, and reduce overall environmental impact.
For island trips:
- Ninety-two percent of Gen Z and Millennial travelers say protecting nature and wildlife is important when choosing and booking trips.
- Ninety percent say supporting local communities and responsible tourism is important.
- Eighty-seven percent say reducing the overall environmental impact of their travel is important.
- For more than a third (37 percent) of these travelers, a destination’s sustainability practices influence their decision “a lot” or “completely”.
Nature Trips are Frequent & Drive Spend
The research shows that trips to national parks are alive and well, underscoring just how important nature-based travel has become and how much it contributes to local communities.
- Eighty-six percent of respondents took at least one national park or nature trip in the last 12 months.
- Nearly half (46 percent) took one or two such trips, and more than a quarter (26 percent) took three or four.
- Gen Z book national parks/nature trips more often (more multi trip behavior), while Millennials are more likely to either not go at all or limit themselves to just one or two trips a year.
- Millennials skew more to one to two trips (50 percent) compared with Gen Z (42 percent).
- Gen Z are notably more likely to take three to four trips (34 percent), than Millennials (19 percent).
More than 60 percent of Gen Z and Millennial travelers spent several hundred U.S. dollars on their most recent national park or nature trip, including transportation, accommodation, food, activities, and shopping. These trips, ranging from $251 to $750, provide meaningful economic support to local communities and businesses.
