Remember when overseas travel was an Oz rite of passage?

Remember when overseas travel was an Oz rite of passage? When dressed in our best clobber we boarded that ocean liner or hopped on a Qantas or Boeing flight and, with a letter of introduction to Grand-aunt Susan's second cousin once removed in the north of England, we headed overseas on our great adventure? One of the lucky few who had managed to scrape together the money for such a luxury or perhaps one of the very privileged who had received enough money to cover travel costs as a 21st birthday gift. Well times have changed. Today's global travel is inexpensive by comparison and Generation Y is lapping it up.
According to Roy Morgan this month:
"The majority of Generation Y have moved out of home according to a recent study by Roy Morgan Research. In the 12 months to March 2010, only 25% of Gen Y now live with their parents (down from 51% five years ago), with 40% living with a partner, 27% in a shared household and 8% in some other arrangement. Additionally, 27% of Gen Y now have children.
More than half of Generation Y have completed a tertiary qualification or are still studying at a tertiary institution (53%) with 45% of them currently in full time work.
Almost all Gen Y (95%) have accessed the internet in the last 4 weeks, with 80% having accessed a community or messaging site, such as Facebook, and 27% having bought, sold or shopped online in the last 4 weeks. 62% also agree that they 'are always ready to try new and different products' — higher than both Gen Z (58%) and Gen X (57%)." and

"Gen Y * is more likely than other generations to have taken at least one overseas holiday or leisure trip in the last 12 months, according to the latest Roy Morgan Research Single Source data.

In the year ended March 2010, 25.4% of Gen Y had taken at least one overseas holiday or leisure trip in the last 12 months, ahead of Baby Boomers (22.6%), Gen X (17.7%), Pre-Boomers (15.4%) and Gen Z (14.8%).

* Gen Y is defined as Australians born between 1976 - 1990; Gen Z between 1991 - 2009; Gen X between 1961 - 1975; Baby Boomers between 1946 - 1960; and Pre-Boomers 1945 or earlier.

"As Generation Y of Australia age, move through the life stages, and become increasingly wealthy over the next decade they could potentially represent a larger proportion of tourism expenditure in Australia. The challenge is that many of Gen Y are choosing an overseas holiday rather than a domestic one.
"Gen Y have diverse cultural backgrounds, but as a group they are highly educated and career minded. Roy Morgan Research has recently released a report on Gen Y Holiday and Leisure Trends which can assist tourism operators and destination marketers in understanding what motivates Gen Y, how they relate to the world, and how to communicate with them."