Further research results give clarity of the positive impact travel has on young travellers’ sense of citizenship:
• 70% of travellers indicate that travel has shaped their perspective on global politics (compared to 51% non-travellers)
• 51% of travellers indicate they are patriotic (compared to 31% non-travellers)
• 41% of travellers indicate that they would run for public office in (compared to 29% non-travellers)
• 49% of travellers voted in the last national election (compared to 39% non-travellers)
• 55% of travellers have voted in a local election (compared to 36% non-travellers)
• 51% of travellers indicate that they participate in activities in their community (compared to 38% non-travellers)
• 30% of travellers indicate that they have donated money to an organisation that helps people located in another country (compared to 11% non-travellers)
• 14% of travellers indicate that they have written to or communicated with their national government (compared to 7% non-travellers)
• 19% of travellers indicate that they are involved in their local government (compared to 5% non-travellers)
• Travellers are more likely to volunteer over 10 hours a month
• Travellers indicating that they participate in activities in their community: 40%, versus 31% non-travellers
• Travellers voted in the last presidential/national election: 46%, versus 37% non-travellers
• Travellers indicate that they would run for public office: 32%, versus 19% non-travellers
• Travellers voted in a local (city/regional level) election(s): 45%, versus 36% non-travellers
• Travellers indicate that they have donated money to an organisation(s) that helps people located in another country: 30%, versus 20% non-travellers
• Travellers indicate that they have written to or communicated with their National government: 21%, versus 5% non-travellers
• Travellers indicating that travel has shaped their perspective on global politics: 63%, versus 36% non-travellers
"While it might seem like a paradox, there are plenty of reasons for travel to have these kinds of effects on one’s sense of citizenship," says Kelly Jackson, general manager for Contiki. "The friendships you make over a 3am Gyros in Mykonos will be friendships that will stay with you for a lifetime, and the people you interact with and cultures you’re exposed to have a profound impact on your tolerance and understanding. Contiki’s unique social travel experience sets millennial travellers up to have better relationships with their friends, family and with their wider communities at home, through the skills they learn through their travel experiences.”
The survey results give strong evidence that experiencing new cultures and viewpoints through travel, in turn, enhances character attributes which prove a positive impact on citizenship, such as perspective, empathy and appreciation. Despite young people spending a greater amount of time away from their native countries when travelling, young people who travel do in fact gain a greater sense of citizenship than those who have not travelled internationally.
Contiki commissioned Story and Verse and Fan Data Analytics - two third-party professional research and insight organisations - to conduct this research.
Story and Verse enlisted the expertise of Adam Ganlinsky, PhD, Columbia Business School, to advise in the form of an interview about the character attributes that change as a result of travel, as indicated by his own academic research. These include empathetic concern, perspective-taking, generalised trust, interracial connection, open-minded thinking, learning goal orientation and general self-efficacy.
Fan Data Analytics, using this insight, conducted a survey of a pool of 2,980 18-35-year-olds from the United Kingdom (824), United States (514), Canada (513), Australia (520), South Africa (305) and New Zealand (303). The response pool was broken into equal groups of travellers and non-travellers, as defined below:
• Travellers: someone who has travelled outside of their home country
• Non-travellers: someone who has not travelled outside of their home country
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from Fan Data Analytics.
