Hostelworld : TRAVELER FOOTPRINT - FULL REPORT

Traveler Footprint Report Findings

Foundational Findings

• The majority of respondents (42.78 percent) take 1-3 trips per year, 24.84 percent of respondents take 4-6 trips per year, 17.09 percent of respondents take 7 or more trips per year.

• The majority of respondents (61.97 percent) said they stay at brand name hotels most frequently, with boutique / independently owned hotels coming in second, rental properties / Airbnbs coming in third and hostels coming in fourth.

• The majority of respondents (39.92 percent) identified "rest and relaxation" as their primary goal when traveling, with "adventure and/or exploration" coming in second, "visit friends / family" coming in third, "education / learning about the world" coming in fourth and "social interaction / building new friendships and networking" coming in fifth.

• The majority of respondents (32.38 percent) said they are most likely to spend extra funds on dining out. The second most popular response choice (selected by 26.38 percent of respondents) was travel.

  Traveler Footprint Findings

• The majority of respondents (62.94 percent) said they spend the most money on "accommodations" while traveling, with "restaurants" coming in second, "experiences" coming in third, "groceries" coming in fourth and "local transportation" coming in fifth.

• The majority of respondents spend between $500 and $1,000 on locally purchased goods during a week long vacation (not including airfare).

• The vast majority of respondents (78.99 percent) said there are travel destinations that they visit regularly or plan to visit again in the future.

• US citizens are most likely to return to a destination to engage in a certain activity or visit a favorite attraction in the area (54.17 percent of respondents agree). Another 37.06 percent say they return to a given location because they feel there is more to see and do in the area.

• The majority of respondents (72.16 percent) have never engaged in community service activities while traveling. However, the most common community service activity to participate in while traveling falls into the "educational services" category.

• The majority of US citizens (79.43 percent) engage with communities that they have traveled to in some fashion after returning home. Most commonly (45.39 percent), respondents said they make return visits to some or all of the communities that they visit. What's more, 36.35 percent say they encourage others to travel to that destination and 23.05 percent keep in touch with locals from some or all of the communities they visit.

• The majority of respondents (58.51 percent) said they have made temporary friendships during travel, while 36.44 percent said they have made lifelong friends that they keep in touch with or continue to travel with. And nearly 9 percent said they have made a romantic connection with someone while traveling.

• The vast majority of US citizens (81.65 percent) said they have inspired or encouraged someone to travel to a location they have visited in the past.

• The majority of respondents (50.45 percent) said they do not post on social media while traveling. Those that do post on social typically do so 1-3 times during a week long trip (this is true of 29.84 percent of respondents).

• The majority of respondents (76.43 percent) said traveling to a location has inspired them to visit another new community or nearby location at some point in time.

• The majority of respondents (43.64 percent) said they do not think they have an impact on the communities that they visit. Of those that do feel they have an impact (35.84 percent) on the communities they visit, only 1.34 percent said that impact is negative.

Age

• Respondents between the age of 18 and 29 are most likely to rank "adventure and/or exploration" as their number one or two priority while traveling (of 19-29 year-olds, 31.93 percent ranked this as their number one priority while 25.21 percent ranked this as their number two priority).

• Respondents between the age of 18 and 29 are most likely to spend extra funds on travel (the majority, 28.57 percent, ranked travel number one). This is the only age group that ranks travel as number one.

• Respondents between the age of 18 and 29 report spending the least amount of money on locally purchased goods - the majority (38.05 percent) of respondents in this age bracket said they spend between $100 and $500 during a week long trip. Respondents between the age of 45 and 59 spend the most, with the majority (27.68 percent) of respondents in this age bracket spending between $1,000 and $2,000.

• Unsurprisingly, younger age groups are more likely to post on social during travel than older generations. However, even the majority of 18-29 year-olds (40.98 percent) said they only post on social media 1-3 times during a week long trip.

  Income

  • Respondents with lower income levels (annual income of $0 to $24,999) are more likely to keep a tight budget when traveling than those with a higher household income - 60 percent of respondents in this income bracket said they spend $500 or less on locally purchased goods during a week long trip.

  • Respondents with lower income levels (annual income of $0 to $24,999) are more likely to participate in community service projects while traveling than those with a higher household income - 39.24 percent of respondents in this income bracket said they have participated in community service projects (educational services, healthcare services, building services). That's well above the national average of 27.62 percent.

    Travel Frequency

  • Power travelers, respondents who take 10 or more trips per year, are more likely to return to a given location multiple times. Of this group, 92.37 percent said they return to one or more destinations regularly. Most commonly (this applies to 50.85% of power travelers) it is because they own a property in that location.

  • What's more, the more respondents travel, the more likely they are to participate in community service projects while traveling. 23.19 percent of those that travel 1-3 times per year participate in community service projects, compared to 30.09 percent of those that travel 4-6 times per year, 35.34 percent of those who travel 7-9 times per year and 36.44 percent of those who travel 10 or more times per year. In other words, the more you travel, the more likely you are to engage in community service when doing so.

  • Similarly, power travelers are most likely to make donations to some or all of the communities they visit (25.42 percent do so, compared to 15.94 percent of those who travel less frequently) and they are more likely to make return visits (53.39 percent, compared to 43.48 percent of those who travel less frequently).

  • Power travelers are also more likely to make to make lifelong friendships when they travel (38.98 percent, compared to 24.06 percent of those who travel less frequently).

    Personal Budget

  • Respondents who prefer to spend extra cash on travel are most likely to cite "adventure and/or exploration" as their primary goal when traveling (30.95 percent, compared to 18.80 percent of those that spend cash elsewhere).

  • Respondents who prefer to spend extra cash on travel are more likely to make lifelong friends than others (30.26 percent, compared to 19.38 of those that spend cash elsewhere).