The travel industry is at a critical juncture. With technology changing rapidly and new generations shaping consumer habits, brands that fail to adapt will fall behind. If you want to stay relevant, now is the time to focus on Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Gen Z: The Present and Future of Travel

I recently came across an article where Santosh Kumar, Booking.com Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia, said:

“India’s population is 60 percent below the age of 35, and this particular demographic will be crucial for our business for the next two to three decades.”

I couldn’t agree more. Gen Z, aged 15-29, makes up nearly one-third of the global population. They are digital-first travelers who rely on technology for everything—from researching destinations to booking accommodations. If travel brands want to secure long-term loyalty, they need to meet Gen Z where they are: online, on mobile, and in immersive digital spaces.

Gen Alpha: The Power Behind Family Travel

As a parent, I know firsthand how much influence kids have over family vacations. If you’ve ever asked your child where they’d like to go, they tend not to be shy, whether it’s Disney World, Paris, New Zealand, etc. And they can be persistent too sometimes. While Gen Alpha (ages 0-14) may not be the ones booking the trips, they play a huge role in shaping family travel decisions. They influence where families go, where they stay, and what activities they choose. This generation is the most tech-savvy generation ever, and they are already deciding the future of social media. Ignore them at your peril.

Remember Blockbuster & Netflix

What happens to brands that ignore the inevitable advancement of tech? Netflix rode the new platform (the internet) while Blockbuster stuck with DVDs.

Most Effective Way To Target Gen Z & Gen A

One recent statistic that totally caught my attention is how much time Gen Z & A are spending in immersive 3D platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft. And to be very clear, these aren’t just games anymore—they’ve evolved into full-blown social hubs where users explore, create, and interact. The average amount of time spent per daily session on Roblox for its nearly 400 Million MAUs is over 2 ½ hours. That is serious social media engagement my friends, and more than Gen Z & Gen A on spend on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram combined.

The Time to Act is Now

So which road to travel? The Netflix road or the Blockbuster road?

For many tourism focused organizations that last few years has been a period of recovery form the devasting effects of Covid, and while many other categories such as entertainment, sports, fashion and beauty are seeing an explosion of brand activations on platforms such as Roblox & Fortnite, the travel and tourism industry not so much.

How Destinate Helps

Destinate has partnered with the leading studios, platforms, and media experts to create data-driven, high-impact tourism activations across platforms such as Roblox & Fortnite, helping tourism focused organizations to understand best practices to reach their ideal audiences while driving engagement and conversions.

With decades of expertise in tourism & hospitality marketing. We along with our partners understand the intricacies of tourism marketing and how to best implement 3D immersive experiences that Gen A & Gen Z will respond and interact with.

Additionally, Destinate in partnership with Beyond Pixels is producing monthly webinars where we dive into the latest immersive 3D tourism activations meeting innovators and tourism organizations who building and creating activations that are uniquely driving engagements. Experiences that other tourism organizations can learn from.

Next Steps?

Book a free one-hour consultation with Dan Barry, CEO & Founder of Destinate and author of the soon to be released book, Ready Player Travel: How Gen Z & Gen A are Discovering Destinations.

This free consultation will look to uncover your specific marketing objectives as it relates to targeting Gen Z & Gen A and give you ideas across various budgets of some options that you may want to consider to explore how immersive experiences can transform your tourism marketing strategy.

The future of travel belongs to the brands that understand and adapt to these new generations. The question is: are you ready?