Youth travel growth in Cape Town

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Howard Richman, owner of Cape Town backpackers lodge The Green Elephant, has noted an increase in youth travel and bookings over the last two years and said that the recent summer has been particularly busy. Richman noted that youths stay longer than other guests, typically two to four weeks, often starting in Cape Town then touring the country and returning to Cape Town for the last leg of their travels. Nearly all of The Green Elephant's bookings are taken online, through its own site and via sites like Hostelworld. References on Tripadvisor also assist with bookings.

Adventure tour company Earthstompers takes Cape Town visitors on the Garden Route and owner Hendrik Human also said that he is seeing an upward trend, with youth travel increasing by as much as 50% since 2010. Youths are generally more spontaneous and Human said that up to 40% of his short-lead bookings are from the youth market. He does, however, note that the definition of youth is getting wider: "It's not about age anymore, but rather the type of travel - travel that is an experience of local life, people, the cultural atmosphere and adventure." Human also receives 49% of his direct bookings online.

Cape Town Tourism's stand at travel show ITB this year also had a lot of students asking about internship opportunities in the city.

More money to spend on travel

Director-general of the World Youth, Student and Educational Travel Confederation's (WYSE), David Chapman noted that: "The key reasons for this (youth sector) growth are that today's youths have more money to spend on travel, are travelling more often and to more distant countries than in the past. Traditional backpackers are declining while 'flashpackers' - hi-tech, socially connected young travellers - are becoming a new part of the market." Source: ITB World Travel Trends Report 2013/2014.

The ITB World Travel Trends Report 2013/2014 also notes that the Asian youth traveller is different to their generational predecessors; well off and better educated, about 10% of Chinese travellers are youth travellers who are socially oriented and interested in personal experiences.

Perhaps linked to youth travel, urban travel is also on the increase. The ITB World Travel Trends Report 2013/ 2014 reported that "it is indeed the age of the urban tourist. Since 2009, city trips have increased by 47%. In contrast, the largest segment, sun and beach holidays grew by 12% while countryside trips declined by 10%."

Attending ITB Berlin 2014, Nils Heckscher, owner of Not just Hotels, said: "Urban tourism and authentic experiences is definitely a trend. I attended the launch of Precious Time, a campaign by UNWTO and Madrid supporting this movement with an urban tourism call to action that aims to create a collaborative model to enhance private/public partnership."

Among the fastest growing

The UNWTO's latest preliminary figures confirm that Africa is now among the fastest growing in the world in terms of tourist arrivals. According to figures from IPK International's World Travel Monitor, outbound travel in the Africa/Middle East region has grown in the 6% to 9% range annually, outpacing growth in the rest of the world. The largest source markets are Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt and the top destination within the continent is South Africa.

In 2012 the Three Cities Alliance agreement was signed between Cape Town Tourism, Durban Tourism and Joburg Tourism, which aims to profile South Africa's urban offering and to encourage tourism growth to the country. This relationship is still going strong and we are collaborating on how to continue to build the profile of our cities.

Cape Town Tourism CEO, Enver Duminy concluded: "With youth travel on the rise and most of these travellers using their mobile devices as a method of planning and booking their trips, the industry should be ready to receive and interact with this sector. We are most definitely gearing up for this shift with two of the Lonely Planet's top three best-value hotels in the world situated in South Africa and most establishments on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The Backpack in Cape Town recently took top spot in the Lonely Planet's list of Best-Value Hotels in the World in 2014."