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A new study by Airbnb and YouGov addresses what everyone’s already suspected. India's Gen Z is done with novel-long itineraries and grand annual plans.
Never the Same: The New Rules of Gen Z Travel in India is a survey of 2,012 Gen Z folks across 11 Indian cities, commissioned by Airbnb and released this week.
Between an Instagram reel of some influencer speedrunning three cities in four days and a mutual’s three-month-delayed carousel post of a random spot in the hills, it’s easy at first to assume that how we treat travel is a natural extension of the stereotype around us: phone-first and quick to jump at and off things.
But the study instead carves out a certain… philosophy that Gen Z’s ended up adopting, wittingly or not.
On why Gen Z travels
The study puts forward that Indian Gen Z, the 18-to-29 set, has essentially retired the huge annual two-week-long holiday as a concept. It calls them the Anti-Itinerary Generation, which is almost flattering – I mean, the term sounds much more like counter-culture than the likely reality of a group chat whose energy was spent on deciding dates and a Goa house. But if I’m being honest, the study’s got reason. Strong reason.
Two in three Gen Z travellers said they go on a trip with the explicitly planned intention of doing absolutely nothing.
87% say how they travel reflects who they are as a person, while 92% apparently want their choice of stay to reflect personal taste rather than whatever is currently ranking. And 80% say the small moments matter more to them than famous attractions. Just reading this alone made me realise the strongest memories of my trips with friends typically involved conversations on a terrace, makeshift coffee, and aimlessly walking around.
Where Gen Z chooses to stay for a holiday
The data on accommodation is quite interesting. 63% of respondents say they have chosen a destination specifically because of a stay they discovered, not because of the place. More than three-quarters spend at least half their trip time at their accommodation.
Perhaps among the most evident things we’ve known for a while: 70% prefer three short trips over one long annual holiday, and 66% book within days or weeks of travel… not months in advance.
None of this is surprising if you're in your mid-to-late twenties and have watched the annual family holiday ritual get dismantled in favour of a Kasauli weekend with four friends. What’s interesting is the fact that travel used to exclusively mean picking a destination and finding somewhere to sleep.
The report also makes the fairly obvious but still worth-noting observation that for Gen Z, the people matter more than the place. Three in four say who they travel with is more important than where they go. 51% prefer one shared home over separate hotel rooms when travelling with friends, because the shared kitchen and the common living room are, as the report somewhat poetically puts it, ‘where the actual trip happens’.
It notes that of all things to do on a trip, the respondents mostly answered in the forms of nature and travel, exploring local cuisines, and spontaneous adventures.
How the study was conducted
The survey was conducted in April 2026 across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Goa, with all NCCS A respondents, so we're talking about young urban India with disposable income.
Any study comes with its usual caveats, but you’ve got to admit this one strikes home. If you're looking to take a short trip soon, consider our handpicked Airbnb lists in Delhi and Mumbai.