Not Just Cheap, This is What Gen Z is Looking for When Choosing a Place to Stay

Illustration of Gen Z looking for accommodation while traveling. (Freepik)

JAKARTA - The habit of traveling among Gen Z continues to change with the years. Maybe before, young people often choose hotels when traveling are often synonymous with complete facilities, strategic locations, or the luxuries offered.

However, in the era of social media and experience-based travel, Gen Z has a different perspective when determining accommodation, especially where to stay.

For them, accommodation is no longer just a place to rest after a day of touring the city. Accommodation is now part of the travel experience itself.

Starting from an interesting interior design, an aesthetic atmosphere, to corners that are worth preserving for social media, these are important considerations before ordering a room.

Ovaldo Sanjaya, General Manager of the East & Bali Area of RedDoorz, said that the character of Gen Z tourists is quite unique compared to previous generations.

"The Gen Z market is a bit unique, they want something fresh and new. Starting from eye-catching interior design, so that accommodation partners must follow the development of time or trends. This market wants something different," he said at the SANS Hotel Nagari Malioboro, Yogyakarta, Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

According to Ovaldo, this trend reflects changes in the hospitality industry in recent years. Currently, many young people are more focused on the needs of practical travel.

This change is also influenced by the increasing popularity of flexible travel styles, such as backpacking and short getaways. For example, when traveling, young tourists generally make unique tourist destinations, culinary, or cafes as the main destination.

Accommodations serve as a comfortable place to rest, but still have a character that suits their lifestyle. Therefore, accommodations that offer a practical but stylish concept are increasingly in demand.

Not only from the price and location, but also from the visual appearance that is able to provide a different experience.

"The concept of the interior is more modern, colorful, even the bed decoration is adjusted," said Ovaldo.

This change in tourist behavior is in line with the trend of tourism which is now increasingly oriented towards experience. For example in Yogyakarta which is one example of a destination that is able to answer this need.

This city not only offers a variety of tourist attractions, but also cultural, historical, and culinary experiences that continue to attract tourists from various regions.

"Yogyakarta has an irreplaceable attraction because it offers a complete tourist experience at a relatively affordable cost. From culture, historical tourism, to local cuisine, everything makes domestic tourists keep coming back to Jogja," said Ovaldo.

SANS Hotel Nagari Malioboro. (Dinno/VOI)

This attraction is reflected in the high number of tourist visits to the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), throughout 2025, 40.6 million movements of Indonesian tourists and more than 102 thousand foreign tourists visited DIY.

This positive trend continued in the first quarter of 2026. In the first three months of this year, the number of visits by Indonesian tourists to Yogyakarta has reached 10.4 million trips, an increase compared to the same period last year which reached 10.2 million visits.

This trend is also seen from the high interest of tourists in lifestyle-style accommodations. Throughout 2025, SANS Hotel became the brand with the highest occupancy rate and recorded a performance 1.3 times higher than the average other hotels in the city of Yogyakarta.

This phenomenon shows that tourists are now increasingly interested in accommodations that are not only affordable, but also have an interesting design and are able to support their travel experience.

Agus Widodo, Operational Manager of SANS Hotel Nagari Malioboro, revealed that the occupancy rate of his hotel had increased significantly in recent years.

"Before being managed directly with RedDoorz, the average occupancy rate of our property was in the range of 40%. Now, this figure has increased to around 75%. This is thanks to the support of operational expertise from RedDoorz. The collaboration with RedDoorz has helped us expand our market reach, while still consistently presenting a comfortable stay experience for guests," he said.

Seeing the changing tourism trends which are increasingly dynamic, one thing seems to be increasingly clear, namely for Gen Z, accommodation is no longer just a place to stop by.

Accommodation is now part of the travel story, a place that is not only comfortable to rest, but also able to provide an unforgettable experience.