Youth tourism and its recent and rapid growth play a critical role as an important trendsetter in the tourism market around the globe and act as a pioneer in discovering/developing new tourism products for tourists.
Youth tourism is a highly profitable tourism sector and is considered to have a monetary contribution to the destinations, bringing a boost to the local economy. With a better flow of services/goods, foreign-exchange earnings from international travelers, and enhancement of employment opportunities for local people and tourism-related infrastructure development.
In the past few decades, the number of youth tourists has been increasing rapidly throughout the world. Youth tourism refers to a young individual’s trip that has a flexible and independently organized travel schedule, it involves a longer journey than other tourism types, places an emphasis on meeting other tourists or making international friends, and shows a preference for budget restaurants and lodging accommodations.
The challenges facing the tourism sector will only be met successfully only by a well-educated, well-trained, bright, energetic, multilingual, and entrepreneurial workforce who understands the nature of tourism and have professional training. The high quality of professional human resources in tourism will allow enterprises to gain a competitive edge and deliver added value with their service.
A high-quality tourism workforce can only be achieved through high standards of contemporary tourism education and training. Tourism education and training involve the communication of knowledge, concepts, and techniques that are specific to the field of tourism, but which draw upon the core disciplines and themes of areas such as geography, finance, and marketing.
The young generation is like a tool in the development of cultural tourism products. A cultural tourism product is a tourism product that has been inherited by the previous generation. This is to foster the role and participation of the younger generation, which was developed by previous generations, can be enjoyed by the present and future generations.
Mass tourism and the development of information technology can have positive and negative impacts. In addition, there are also changes in people’s lifestyles that require young people to understand the development of their regions. For that, in the development of sustainable tourism is needed an effort to empower local people who are also able to involve the younger generation.
Some of the younger generations become a local guides for tourists who do trekking, become dance players, the typical music players of his village, and are still involved in activities that are temporary which is have not participated permanently in planning, management, or development of cultural products. In the future, the young generation’s involvement is needed to support sustainable tourism development.
Another interesting topic to study related to youth tourism is that extensive network technology has facilitated so that digital information can instantly be shared across the globe. Modern technology facilitates and has been facilitated by the concept of time-space compression. It is a gradually developed concept that makes the physical distance seem shorter and changes the perception of time and space.
Consequently, how the use of Social Media impacts the behavioral patterns of young travelers becomes relevant. Tourists are now able to express opinions, needs, or desires affecting the supply of tourism products. This amplifies the realization that Social Media has an influence on youth tourism. Studying youth tourism in relation to Social Media increases interest in how Social Media can be used as a tool to reach youth travelers.