The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Holiday Preferences at the Example of Z Generation Within the Youth Tourism

Abstract

Youth travel is an important segment of the tourism market. The motives of travel as we knew them until 2020 were more or less constant, but the pandemic situation had a huge impact on the interest in travel. For this reason, it is important to test the reaction of young people to current pandemics in the tourism market and their current attitudes and views on travel. This chapter deals with changes in consumer behavior on the example of Slovak youth, based on the implemented qualitative research on a sample of more than 300 Slovak youths who participate in tourism activities. The aim was to identify changes in consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, their motivations, and barriers to travel. The results of the empirical part bring clear conclusions that the pandemic significantly affected the interest, purchase, and overall behavior of youth in the context of travel.