Millennials Willing to Go Into Debt for Travel Experiences

People love traveling – whether it’s meant to get away and relax or to re-connect with family and loved ones. However, a new survey reveals that some people are so willing to travel even if it may hurt them financially.

The home sharing platform Vrbo conducted a survey of American travelers with the help of Ipsos and found that millennials aren’t willing to put off their vacation, even if they can’t afford it.

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"Forget what you thought about millennials traveling on a shoestring," said Karen Fuller, senior director of global market research at Vrbo. "Our results revealed that they are actually the most likely to go into debt for travel, which is consistent with the notion that millennials like to accumulate experiences, not things."

Comparatively, only 27 percent of Gen Xers and 15 percent of Baby Boomers were willing to go into debt for travel.

As Fuller explained, millennials are focused on having experiences, rather than material things. This matches up with the survey findings that discovered that 45 percent of millennials will “travel purely for exploration in 2019.”

In terms of Gen X, 20 percent said they’ll travel for a special occasion this year, while 44 percent will travel for a milestone event like a birthday or anniversary. Baby Boomers are the least likely to travel for a hobby or activity like hiking or skiing, compared to 23 percent of millennials.