In this opinion piece from Daniele Virtuoso, Gen Z Travel Marketer, he argues that agents are missing a trick when it comes to younger travellers.
On a Tuesday night, in a group chat somewhere, eight people in their twenties are planning a trip. There are screenshots of TikToks, a Google Doc half-filled with flight options, someone mentions a boutique hotel with a pool they saw on Instagram and someone else is sharing an AI generated list of the top 10 spots on the Amalfi Coast.
At no point does anyone say, “Should we call a travel agent?” Only 38 per cent of Gen Z use a travel agent by default. Which means that for most people in my generation, an advisor is simply not part of the instinctive planning process. But that isn’t because we’re anti-agent or because we think expertise has no value, and it certainly isn’t because we believe an algorithm understands nuance better than a human who has actually been somewhere.
But because, from where many Gen Z travellers are standing, the industry has not clearly communicated why a travel advisor should be part of the process in the first place. And I am saying this as someone who works in marketing in the travel industry, and who also happens to be Gen Z: This isn’t a generational flaw. It’s a positioning gap.
And addressing it matters now more than ever, since as an industry, we are slowly alienating one of the largest travel-intent segments in the country. Yet there is a persistent assumption in the industry that this value will be captured eventually. That Gen Z will simply turn to travel advisors later.
It is a comforting theory. But travel planning is a habit. And habits formed early tend to stick.
Which makes the current numbers hard to ignore: 59 per cent of Gen Z Australians plan to travel in the coming year, compared to only 43 per cent of Gen X and 41 per cent of Baby Boomers. And we are not talking about couch-surfing through Southeast Asia on a budget, this is a high-frequency, high-intent travel. International research from Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection found that in 2024 Gen Z travellers took more trips and spent more on travel than any other generation, averaging around USD $11,000 per year on travel. Research also shows that Gen Z is often willing to cut back on other discretionary spending rather than sacrifice travel. Experiences are not seen as indulgence but as identity, even if it means living on instant noodles for a month or two.
At the same time, the trips this generation gravitates towards are often experiential and logistically layered: food-led itineraries, multi-stop trips, adventure components,
sustainability considerations and lesser-known regions. The kind of travel that is harder to design well and easier to get wrong.
In other words, the kind of travel that should play directly into a skilled advisor’s strengths.
Lastly, in terms of lifecycle economics, Gen Z (now between the age of 18 and 28) is at the beginning of its earning curve. As careers progress, disposable income tends to rise, not fall. If current spend is already this strong, the upside over the next decade is going to be significant. From a pure commercial perspective, this generation is a compounding asset.
So, the opportunity is obvious. A generation that travels frequently, values experiences deeply and often plans complex itineraries should be a natural fit for travel advisors. So why is that not the case?
The challenge, I believe, is communication.
Travel advisors have spent decades selling access. For older generations, that worked. Travellers needed someone to book flights, arrange hotels and navigate visas. That is not the case with Gen Z, who grew up with all that information at their fingertips.
But access to information is not the same as clarity. If anything, unlimited choice has created a new kind of travel problem: choice paralysis, information overload and the difficulty of separating genuinely worthwhile experiences from marketing disguised as content. A great travel advisor is no longer just the person who can book the trip. They are the person who can cut through the noise.
That expertise needs to be made visible. If a viral video promotes a so-called “secret beach” in Positano without mentioning that access is restricted in peak season, that is an opportunity. Not to mock the content, but to add the missing context. To explain what travellers should know, what alternatives exist and why professional judgement still matters.
This is where personal branding, for all the eye-rolling the term attracts, becomes important. At its core, it simply means having a recognisable point of view. In an era of AI-generated itineraries and generic travel content, being specific, human and real is a competitive advantage. Do you optimise for food, silence, design, adventure, culture, chaos? That perspective matters.
Another aspect to keep in mind is that Gen Z assigns authority differently. Not necessarily by years in business, but by visible thinking. If you specialise in food travel, show that you understand the regional differences in Vietnamese cuisine. If you sell Europe, explain which cities are nearing overtourism and where travellers should go instead. If you design domestic itineraries, tell us why a certain stretch of Western Australia still feels untouched and how long that might realistically last.
The internet is already full of generic recommendations, and many of them are paid, recycled or written by people who have not been to the places they are describing. What stands out is specificity and honest perspective. Not “explore local markets,” but which stall, which dish and why it matters.
Finally, advisors need to communicate the value of protection, not just inspiration. Gen Z is often less afraid of spending money than wasting time. A poorly planned trip is not just a financial mistake, it is an experience lost. That is where advisors have a powerful story to tell: the client who wanted to cram five cities into seven days and was guided towards a better rhythm, the cancelled connection that was salvaged, the honeymoon that almost happened in the wrong season until someone who knows better stepped in.
None of this requires reinventing the profession, chasing trends or handing your social media to a twenty-something. It simply requires making expertise visible in the places where Gen Z already gets their travel inspiration, communicating clearly and demonstrating real thinking rather than generic recommendations.
Because somewhere tonight another group chat is planning a trip. The question is whether a travel advisor becomes part of that conversation.
