Many of you may read Thrillist, a travel media website that has become a leading resource for younger demographics like Gen Zs and millennials. It offers in-depth reviews of cities and regions throughout the world and gives practical advice for finding authentic experiences, nightlife, events and cuisine. It does a great job of offering readers ideas about how to enjoy more than just a destination’s best-known sites or activities.
Thrillist recently published a fascinating article about the growth of guided tours worldwide and how younger travelers are using them. It turns out these budding world travelers are not turned off by taking a guided tour at all — quite the opposite.
The article explored research created by GetYourGuide, a leading booking platform for sightseeing guide services. That research found that 80% or more of millennials and Gen Z travelers are likely to book a sightseeing guide in the coming year.
Leave it to 20- and 30-somethings to make such tours cool again. That means it’s also cool for those of us who have done walking tours in cities like Budapest or Vienna to recommend them to our children — or our children’s children.
To be clear, this is not drive-by stuff. These are small group walking tours that help to define a city or locale. Expert commentary about local architecture, delicacies, beverages, markets or music are just a few of the street-level insights young travelers are seeking on guided tours.
So in this regard, the more travel changes, the more it stays the same. As many of you know from experience, a superb local guide in a city far away may be who provides the highlight of your group’s next trip.
To read the Thrillist article, visit thrillist.com.
