Local To Sustainable Culture, A Tourism Trend That Gen Z Loves

JAKARTA - Generation Z or what is often called Gen Z has its own preferences in choosing tourist destinations. They are more interested in authentic and integrated experiences with local culture than visiting well-known and crowded tourist attractions.

The co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of tiket.com, Gaery Undarsa, explained that this trend is known as local immersion, where tourists try to experience the life of the local community firsthand.

"Gen Z prioritizes truly authentic experiences in the destinations they visit. You could say they are more interested in exploring local culture than just coming to popular tourist attractions," Gaery said at a press conference in Jakarta, Tuesday.

According to him, this generation tends to look for tourist sites that are not yet well known. They prefer destinations that are considered "hidden gems" or hidden places that have not been visited much.

"They are more looking for something unique, even more not famous in their place, which is even more interesting to them," he added.

In addition, the concept of travel coolcations is also a favorite choice for Gen Z. This trend refers to traveling to places with a cooler atmosphere and offers a calming natural beauty.

"Coolcations is a concept related to places that look cool and exclusive, usually not mainstream tourist destinations, but rather to locations that are still hidden," explained Gaery.

Quoting from the website of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy on Tuesday, the trend of cooling is increasingly popular because many tourists want to enjoy the environment with cooler temperatures and natural scenery.

In addition to looking for unique tourist destinations, Generation Z has also begun to pay attention to the sustainability aspects of their journey. They prefer environmentally friendly tourist attractions and support the sustainability of nature and local culture.

"Because their awareness of the environment is quite high, the places that carry the concept of sustainable tourism are increasingly attractive to Gen Z," concluded Gaery.