Amsterdam,
02
August
2019
|
06:07
Europe/Amsterdam

Gen Z and Social Media: It’s complicated

  • For Gen Z, Instagram is the top source of inspiration when deciding on a vacation destination
  • 45% of Gen Z trust the recommendations of influencers and celebrities
  • A quarter (25%) of ‘snap happy’ Gen Zers take over 50 pics a day while on holiday and love to share their photos publicly, with 40% sharing on social media
  • However, half of Gen Z think that too much emphasis is placed on social media when traveling

There’s much speculation about Gen Z and their use of social media. New research from Booking.com, the digital travel leader connecting travellers with the widest choice of unique places to stay, a range of must-do travel experiences and seamless transport options, reveals that while Gen Z travellers are visual holidayers and social snappers, but their motivations aren’t limited to a 108px frame.

Seeing is Staying

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and for Gen Z those pictures means a direct booking, with 40% of Gen Z admit to using their social feeds are their top travel inspiration source.

Gen Z women are even more likely to be visualising their next holiday while scrolling (47%). This reliance on Instagram is far higher than the global average (25%) and even Millennials (30%). When it comes to selecting new destinations to visit, over a third (35%) of Gen Z say they generally trust social media influencers when it comes to travel recommendations.

Inspiration for Gen Z isn’t just coming from their social feeds, with 35% of respondents influenced by destinations they see in films and TV shows and wanting to see the locations in person.

Social Snappers

From influencers’ feeds to their own, 43% of Gen Zer’s say they’re interested in travelling to destinations that will look good in pictures. Four in ten (42%) say that when they travel they always upload pictures from their trips on social media – more so than any other age demographic (42% v 35% of all travellers).

During their last holiday, 29% of Gen Z took between 10 and 30 pics a day, with a particularly snap happy one in four (25%) taking more than 50 pics each day.

Being the first generation who grew up as Digital Natives, it’s no surprise that Gen Z is a generation who do not desire a life unplugged, with 55% valuing Wi-Fi the most during a stay, higher than any other demographic and their top favoured accommodation amenity.

(Not) just doing it for the ‘gram

Instagram isn’t their only motivator though. Gen Z is aware of the importance of holiday experiences with nearly six in 10 (57%) saying they prefer to focus on what is in front of them and enjoy the moment, rather than spending time taking photos for social media.

This experience-focused generation also prefer to live life offline, with 50% saying they believe that too much emphasis is spent on social media when travelling. So, while there’s no denying that Gen Z “like” social media, scrolling isn’t going to come between their real-life travel experiences any time soon.

Take a closer look at Booking.com’s Gen Z findings in more detail here: http://destinationgenz.com/