Guest post: Gen Z is redefining travel – …

For Gen Z, travel often begins before takeoff—on a digital map that connects their world. Today’s “Zoomers” are more independent, more spontaneous, more digital than any generation before them – and New research from Arival shows They love traveling alone.

Young people are sharing their experiences online, which is reshaping how the travel industry connects with them. As people’s desire to explore continues to grow, the tourism industry continues to have opportunities to meet young people wherever they are.

Discovery is the beginning

In the past, inspiration for travel might have come from a glossy magazine or a recommendation from a friend. Today, it happens in real time on digital platforms. On Snapchat, for example, millions of young people share their experiences every day—from local pastry shops to secluded beaches. For example, through Snap Maps, which currently has 400 million users, people can share what’s happening around them and pin it to real-world locations, creating a vivid social window into local culture, powered by the people who experience it.

Gen Z is not only inspired by what they see online, they are creating it, fueling a cycle of inspiration among friends, brands and influencers. They explore the world through the lens of their peers, with digital maps becoming their compass. Through maps and location tags, users can see what’s happening anywhere in the world in real time, from concerts to coffee shops, making it one of the world’s most dynamic windows into local culture. It combines travel research, recommendations and exploration.

Plan, map and share

Unlike their parents’ planning habits of flipping through guidebooks or scrolling through travel agent websites, Gen Z plans travel in a collaborative and social way. They create itineraries by sharing content, pinning locations, and messaging friends.

Today’s travel decisions are social in nature. They’re triggered in group chats, shared on maps, and verified by seeing where friends have been. This visibility—seeing friends’ tags on a map—turns curiosity into intent. This helps people look beyond traditional tourist traps and find more undiscovered gems, ones that feel personal, local and authentic.

There is an opportunity here for travel brands to be present in the same digital environment in which the program was born. The most powerful marketing doesn’t interrupt the journey – it becomes part of the map itself, helping travelers discover experiences they want to share.

AI helps, but people inspire

More importantly, the advent of the artificial intelligence era coincides perfectly with the rise in the use of mapping technology. Thanks to the convenience of artificial intelligence, whether it’s instant itinerary generation or real-time translation, traveling alone becomes easier and less daunting. When both tools are used together, they become second nature to young people, and they can develop deeply unique experiences for their users.

Travelers can now use artificial intelligence to plan a weekend in Barcelona in seconds, then compare it to a digital map to see which local hotspots are busy or what events are happening. Many digital platforms even offer their own AI chatbots within the same app where users access maps, so it’s easier than ever to get more information or local recommendations through a conversation.

AI may help you plan, but it’s the people who make the entire journey memorable. That’s why the convergence of human experience and digital intelligence is so powerful—AI provides the choices, and social maps bring them to life through real-life human stories.

Tomorrow’s Atlas

Maps have always been associated with navigation, but today, they connect us to the world. For the next generation of explorers, the most inspiring journeys begin with the memories their friends have already made. For brands in this space, this means the path to relevance isn’t by driving ready-made holidays, but by driving discovery. The brands that will win over Gen Z are those that show up at the right time during the discovery phase and help make that dream vacation now in the planning phase a reality.

For the travel industry, the opportunity is clear: don’t just advertise a destination – help people discover it on a map.