According to a research study commissioned by youth travel expert Contiki, young travellers who explore outside of their own country are actually better connected to their home environment than non-travellers. By leaving and discovering other parts of the world, travellers are more likely to become active members of their local communities, have an increased sense of citizenship and be more patriotic.

In order to uncover the effects of travel on young people, Contiki's The Power of Travel study polled 2,980 18-35 year olds from around the world, surveying an equal number of travellers and non-travellers.

According to the study, 40% of travellers indicate that they participate in activities in their community, compared with 31% of non-travellers. Travellers are more likely to engage with local issues and political policies, with  21% of travellers stating that they are involved in their local government, compared to just 4% of non-travellers, and 21% of travellers having written to or communicated with their national government, compared to just 5% of non-travellers. Interestingly, 52% of travellers indicated that they are patriotic, compared to 42% of non-travellers, and travellers are also 10% more likely to find great satisfaction in their close interpersonal relationships.    

These results show that it's not necessarily the people who choose to stay within their country that feel most connected to their locality – indeed, picking up a passport and exploring other cultures and communities is proven to strengthen travellers' connections with home.

“You might assume that young people who travel a lot aren't particularly connected to their own communities at home,” said Donna Jeavons, Contiki Sales and Marketing Director. “However, our research has revealed that 75% of travellers agreed they're more tolerant and compassionate thanks to the awareness of other cultures that visiting different countries gives them. The impact this has at home was the most surprising data we uncovered – it seems the more young people travel, the better citizens they become at home”.

Contiki's research was informed by the work of social psychologist Adam Galinsky (PhD, Columbia Business School) whose academic studies have explored the valuable impacts of travel on individuals. From his insights, Contiki has identified the five ways in which travel has impact on the lives of young people:

Travel creates a powerful sense of citizenship:

• 40% of travellers indicate that they participate in activities in their community, compared with 31% of non-travellers
• 46% of travellers voted in the last presidential/national election, compared with 37% of non-travellers
• 32% of travellers indicate that they would run for public office, compared with 19% of non-travellers
• 21% of travellers indicate that they have written to or communicated with their National government, compared with just 5% of non-travellers
• 63% of travellers indicate that travel has shaped their perspective on global politics, compared with 36% non-travellers

Travel creates connections to others:

• Travellers are 42% more likely to actively seek out new friendships
• Travellers are 27% more likely to feel a sense of responsibility for all people on planet earth
• Travellers are 12% more likely to understand friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective
• Travellers are 10% more likely to find great satisfaction in their close interpersonal relationships (family, spouse, friends, etc.)

Travel creates a more open mind:

• Travellers are 13% more likely to place high value on open mindedness
• 75% of travellers agree that travel has led to increased tolerance and/or compassion of other cultures
• 57% of travellers indicate that they often feel a sense of kinship with people from different ethnic groups, compared with 41% of non-travellers
• Travellers are 9% more likely to highly value original ideas
• Travellers are 7% more likely to think outside the box

Travel creates a happier you:

• Travellers are 19% more likely to be happy
• Travellers are more likely to exercise more than 5 times a week
• Across all countries, travellers are more likely to exercise more frequently than non-travellers

Travel creates sense of belief in yourself and what you can achieve:

• 63% of travellers indicate that travel experiences have improved their education / employment
• 75% of travellers indicate that they are more confident and can perform efficiently on many different tasks, compared with 65% of non-travellers
• 73% of travellers indicate that they are more likely to have increased willingness to take risks or accept new challenges, compared with 50% of non-travellers
• Travellers are 25% more likely to set goals for themselves and regularly achieve them
• 71% of travellers indicate that travel has helped them learn to adapt and be resourceful in anticipated situations, compared with 41% of non-travellers
• 63% of travellers indicate that travel has helped their ability to problem solve efficiently

For more information on The Power of Travel, check out: www.contiki.com/six-two/power-of-travel.

Life's an adventure – make it count with absolutely #NOREGRETS.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

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 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. 

IMAGES

Supportive high resolution imagery can be downloaded from the Dropbox link here. 

VIDEO

A short documentary demonstrating the transformative power of travel can be viewed on YouTube here. 

If you would like to embed the video on your site, an original version of the video file can be downloaded here.

About Contiki:

Contiki is the world leader in youth travel experiences, a brand that is all about discovery, epic moments and making every second count. Our journeys unlock the local way of life in each and every destination we visit, and with over 200 trips in more than 50 countries, we see every day as the start of a new adventure.