How Boomers Are Leading the Sustainable Travel Charge

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:00 PM ET, Wed April 29, 2026

While Gen Z is constantly talking about the importance of traveling sustainably, it turns out they’re not the ones doing the most about it.

The latest Travel and Sustainability Research report from Booking.com reveals that while 78% of Gen Z say they want to travel sustainably, it's actually Boomers who are leading the sustainability effort on almost every practical action.

The data bears this out when comparing the tangible steps taken by Boomers versus Gen Z. For instance:

69% of Boomers reduce waste when traveling vs. 51% of Gen Z
67% of Boomers travel off-peak vs. 40% of Gen Z
63% of Boomers shop local vs. 54% of Gen Z

Still, young travelers are taking some steps to look after the planet as they explore new destinations. According to Booking.com's report, which involved a sample of 32,500 respondents across 35 countries and territories, younger travelers lead when it comes to socially conscious travel and immersion.

To that end, 31% of Gen Z participated in indigenous culture tours vs. 21% of Boomers. Moreover, one quarter of Millennials (25%) and 21% of Gen Z have participated in a tour or activity that contributed to the health or conservation of the local ecosystem or wildlife, compared to just 14% of Gen X and 11% of Boomers.

Bottom line? Perhaps every generation is contributing, but just doing so a little differently.

And it's also worth celebrating the fact that 88% of U.S. travelers say that more sustainable travel is important or very important to them, according to the report.  That's good news at a time when the U.S. presidential administration is taking steps on multiple fronts to discourage sustainable behavior and actions, from cancelling wind farms to eliminating incentives to go solar or drive electric.

Additional report findings

The varying approaches to sustainable travel are not the only takeaways from the new report. It seems the extreme weather events driven by worsening climate change are also having an impact on travelers. In fact, these events are actively reshaping travel choices and timing across all age groups.

Three-quarters of U.S. travelers now factor extreme weather into where (75%) and when (77%) they travel, while 27% say they have already cancelled a trip because of it in the past year.

Finally, more than half of those surveyed (51%) said that certain destinations have simply become too hot to travel to when they want to visit them. As a result, these same travelers have removed destinations from their travel wish list due to news of extreme weather or natural disasters (45%).