Gen Z puts Vietnam among top four travel picks

Vietnam placed fourth among Gen Z’s most popular travel destinations in an analysis of more than 4,700 bookings by youth travel specialist Adventure360, putting the country six spots ahead of its ranking among Millennials.

The finding highlights Vietnam’s growing appeal among younger travelers and reflects a broader generational divide in travel preferences, Euronews reported. 

Younger travelers tend to favor affordable, trend-driven, and less crowded destinations, while Millennials show greater interest in destinations such as Australia, Japan, and Greece.

Adventure360 analyzed bookings made over the past year to compare the travel choices of Gen Z and Millennials, with Vietnam emerging as one of the destinations that younger travelers favored more strongly than their older counterparts.

According to Hilton’s South East Asia Pulse Check survey, about six in 10 Gen Z and Gen Y travelers in Vietnam plan to travel more frequently, at 61 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

Nearly two-thirds of the young travelers in Vietnam also want to visit more destinations in a single trip, with 65 percent of the Gen Z and 64 percent of the Gen Y respondents expressing that preference.

Across Southeast Asia, the survey found that 54 percent of the Gen Z travelers plan to travel more frequently, while 58 percent want to visit more destinations in a single trip and 47 percent are looking to take longer vacations. 

Among Gen Y travelers, 63 percent are instead focused on increasing their spending per trip.

The Adventure360 study found Thailand was the top destination among Gen Z, accounting for 29.2 percent of the bookings. 

It also ranked second among Millennials, at 17.4 percent, just behind Australia at 17.8 percent.

Cambodia, Laos, and New Zealand also made the Gen Z top 10 but did not appear on the Millennials’ list. 

Japan, Greece, and Iceland, meanwhile, ranked among the Millennials’ top 10 but not Gen Z’s.

Adventure360 experts said social media trends are partly driving Gen Z’s destination choices. 

In Cambodia, for example, the popularity of videos recreating the mobile game Temple Run at Angkor Wat, which have surpassed two million views, highlights the power of viral content in drawing younger travelers to destinations.

Affordability is another factor shaping younger travelers’ choices. 

Thailand appeals to both generations because of its relatively affordable prices and has long been popular among young travelers. 

Koh Tao, in particular, is widely regarded as one of the world’s most affordable places to learn to dive and earn a diving certification.

Japan, Greece, and Iceland, meanwhile, are more popular among Millennials, partly because of their higher travel costs.

Gen Z also tends to seek quieter destinations. 

Skyscanner data show that 76 percent of young travelers are willing to choose lesser-known destinations over heavily visited ones. 

Some 51 percent actively plan trips to less crowded places to avoid overtourism, while one in three said crowds had previously ruined a vacation.