Japan, Spain most popular destinations for young travelers

Economy

Japan, Spain most popular destinations for young travelers

Published: 04 Sep. 2024, 13:38 Updated: 04 Sep. 2024, 14:41

Travelers crowd Incheon International Airport. [NEWS1]

Younger travelers prefer Japan and Spain as their travel destination, whereas older tourists show a strong preference for China, according to an analysis of debit and credit card usage by KB Kookmin Card.

The major card firm released a report on Sept. 2 highlighting the most popular travel destinations for each age group among its customers in the first half of the year, based on flight ticket purchases.

Twenty-somethings favored Japan the most, with 39 percent buying tickets to the neighboring country. The most popular travel destinations for other demographics were Spain for those in their thirties at 39 percent, Vietnam for forty-somethings at 31 percent and China for those in their fifties at 28 percent.

Japan accounted for 44 percent of all flight purchases across all age groups, followed by Vietnam at 12 percent, Thailand at 7 percent, the Philippines at 6 percent, China at 4 percent and Taiwan at 3 percent.

China experienced the most significant increase in flight ticket purchases compared to the same period last year, with a 182 percent rise. Vietnam followed with a 62 percent increase, followed by Japan 45 percent, Thailand 26 percent and Taiwan 18 percent.

Britain, Italy and Japan led in card usage for shopping, while Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand were top for food and beverage spending. Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand also dominated in spending at cafes and dessert shops.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]