Germans like traveling – no matter if they are young or in senior age. More than half of the population consider traveling an important aspect of their lives. As shown by a study by Allianz Partners, 50.9% of Germans over 25 think that traveling is important. So where do the Germans travel?
When asked about the dream holiday destinations, there is a disagreement. While the younger ones are attracted to their dreamland USA (13.3%) and Paris (13.3%) is their favorite city, the older holidaymakers prefer Italy (10.7%) as the most popular travel destination. New York is the favorite city for the German senior travelers (12.3%).
Particularly striking are the differences in travel planning. Older travelers are more spontaneous – 22.1% book only on-site. Thus, the over-59s generation uses this type of booking almost as frequently as online and offline offers in general. Younger people, however, are not so spontaneous and book less locally (17.8%).
The question of security arrangements when travelling is also answered in very different ways. Older people are much more carefree than younger people. The latter gives much more importance to alarm systems, security locks on luggage, copies of the most important documents and disinfectants. The older generation has the lowest usage rate in all these points. In addition, the over-25 group sees risks in a much more relaxed way than young travelers.
Bad weather, traffic jams, strikes or illnesses do not cause as much concern for them as for the younger travelers. This could be explained not only by the greater life and travel experience but also protection. Most of the over-59 travelers use insurance coverage when they travel (82%) compared to 75.6% of the young people.
The reason why the Germans travel is also different depending on age. The younger travelers prefer to recover from everyday life (30%), the over 59s are dominated by the urge to broaden their knowledge and discover new things (33.6%). The latter was only 13.3% percent of under 30 respondents’ reason to travel.
Adventure (18.9%) and time for the family (15.6%) are more important to them. From the older respondents, on the other hand, only 5.7% are active during their vacation. Adventure hardly plays a role (3.3%).
However, there is another aspect on which young and old travelers agree: the travel destination Germany. For young travelers, their own home offers almost as good cultural offer as their dream destination USA (20% Germany vs 21.1% US).
Even with factors such as food, leisure activities and value for money, Germany consistently gets a good second place among the younger ones. 18.9% of the age group between 18 and 29 evaluate the hospitality and mentality highly. The over 59s group is also highly supportive, with a rate of 17.2%.