PRESS RELEASE: 8th September 2026

New research reveals younger travellers are balancing value-conscious choices with a growing appetite for adventure, food and experiences. As one industry expert puts it: brands need to show why a holiday is worth the money, not just that it’s cheap.

London, UK – Monday 7 September 2026 – Gen Z and Millennials may be conscious of the cost of their holidays, but new research suggests they are increasingly looking to maximise what they get for their money, rather than simply minimise what they spend.

The Travel Brand Barometer 2026, from Vision One Research, finds that price is the single most important factor when choosing a holiday for 23% of both Gen Z and Millennials, compared with 31% of Gen X and Baby Boomers.

This does not mean younger travellers are unconcerned about price. Rather, the findings suggest that price is less dominant in their decision-making, with younger generations placing greater emphasis on what they get from the holiday.

Gen Z holidays, for example, are more likely than older generations to seek food, culture and experiences as the single most important factor when choosing a holiday.

The appetite for experience-led travel becomes even clearer when looking at the types of holidays becoming more appealing.

Adventure is where the generations really diverge

Almost four in ten Gen Z holidays/travellers (39%) say adventure travel is becoming more appealing, compared with 36% of Millennials, 24% of Gen X and just 13% of Baby Boomers.

Food tourism shows a similar pattern, becoming more appealing to 36% of Gen Z, compared with 30% of Millennials and 20% of Baby Boomers.

Sports tourism is also significantly more attractive to younger travellers, with 18% of Gen Z and 17% of Millennials saying it is becoming more appealing, compared with just 5% of Baby Boomers.

Meanwhile, cruises show almost the reverse pattern, becoming more appealing to 36% of Baby Boomers, compared with 23% of Gen Z.

Alex Brown, Director of Insights at Vision One Research, said:

“Younger travellers aren’t necessarily looking for the cheapest holiday. They’re looking for the best holiday they can get within their budget.

“Price remains the single biggest consideration for Gen Z and Millennials, but it doesn’t dominate to the same extent as it does among older generations.

“What makes this particularly interesting is that these two behaviours aren’t contradictory. Younger consumers can be highly value-conscious in how they buy travel while being highly experience-conscious in what they want from it.”

Value and experience can coexist

The brands younger consumers use reinforce this more nuanced picture.

Among the traditional travel and holiday brands analysed, Airbnb, British Airways, easyjet, Jet2 Holidays, Premier Inn, Trainline and Uber all feature prominently among Gen Z’s most-used brands.

Gen Z holidays also show strong usage of brands across different parts of the travel market, from airlines and accommodation to package holidays and travel platforms.

The research does not establish why consumers choose individual brands, but the findings highlight an important distinction: being value-conscious does not necessarily mean choosing only the cheapest option.

For younger travellers, value may involve finding the right balance between what they spend and what they get from the overall trip.

What this means for travel brands

For travel brands, this means winning younger consumers may require more than competing on price.

Brands need to show why a holiday is worth the money – not simply that it’s cheap.

That could mean making the destination, experiences, food, activities, and convenience of the overall proposition more visible alongside the price.

The research also suggests that younger travellers are discovering, researching and planning their holidays in fundamentally different ways to older generations – from TikTok to AI planning tools.

Research methodology

Vision One Research conducted the Travel Brand Barometer 2026 research via an online survey of 3,000 UK consumers, with fieldwork in June 2026. Generational subgroup sample sizes are available on request.

Uber and Trainline were excluded from the traditional travel brand rankings to focus the analysis on more traditional holiday and travel brands.

About the Travel Brand Barometer 2026

The Travel Brand Barometer was developed by Vision One Research to explore the strength and direction of the UK’s leading travel and tourism brands, alongside the changing consumer behaviours shaping the sector.

It combines Vision One’s proprietary Brand Equity, Brand Strength and Brand Momentum metrics to identify both the brands leading today and those building potential for tomorrow.

About Vision One Research

Vision One Research is an award-winning UK market research and brand strategy agency specialising in brand tracking, audience and segmentation research, customer experience and thought leadership research.

Media enquiries

Tony Lewis Vision One Research tony@visionone.co.uk 07979 696372