Student travel spans ordinary holidays, domestic and international trips, school mobility, and higher-education study abroad. The available evidence shows strong participation among younger travelers, a large domestic component, and substantial cross-border education movement, while affordability remains a major constraint.
Contents
- Youth participation in tourism
- Where young travelers go
- Trip length and transport choices
- International students in U.S. higher education
- U.S. students studying abroad
- Secondary-school mobility
- Affordability and access
Youth participation in tourism
Eurostat’s 2015 youth-tourism analysis found that 66% of EU residents aged 15–34 took at least one personal tourism trip, compared with 60% of residents older than 35. Younger travelers averaged 2.6 personal tourism trips, while the older comparison group averaged 5.5 nights per trip versus 4.8 nights for ages 15–34. These figures describe age groups, not verified student status. Source: Eurostat, “Young Europeans on tour”.
The more recent Eurostat participation picture covers EU residents aged 15 and over in 2024. Nearly 249 million people in this population made at least one personal tourism trip with at least one overnight stay, equal to a 65% participation rate. Trips lasting at least four nights produced a 52% participation rate. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics - participation in tourism”.
Younger adults were slightly overrepresented among EU tourists in 2024. People aged 15–24 represented 12.5% of the EU population aged 15 and over but 14.0% of EU tourists. People aged 25–34 represented 13.9% of the population and 14.9% of tourists. Participation among ages 15–24 increased 3.4% from 2023, while participation among ages 25–34 decreased 3.6% over the same comparison.
For context, people aged 65 and over represented 25% of the EU population aged 15 and over but 20% of EU tourists. The comparison indicates that tourism participation was not distributed in direct proportion to population size across age groups, although it does not identify students separately.
Where young travelers go
Young Europeans’ travel was predominantly domestic in the Eurostat 2015 data. Seventy-five percent of tourism trips by EU residents aged 15–34 stayed within their own country. Another 19% went to another EU country, and 6% went outside the EU. The three destinations categories describe trips, so they should not be read as the share of individual travelers who ever crossed a border. Source: Eurostat, “Young Europeans on tour”.
Eurostat’s 2024 EU-wide participation measures offer a different view because they classify residents by the kinds of personal trips they made. Thirty-one percent of EU residents aged 15 and over made at least one domestic personal tourism trip but no foreign trip. Ten percent made at least one foreign personal tourism trip but no domestic trip, and 25% made both domestic and foreign personal tourism trips. Among EU tourists, 47% made only domestic trips, while 38% made both domestic and foreign trips, up from 36% in 2023. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics - participation in tourism”.
| Measure | Result | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 15–34 taking a personal tourism trip | 66% | EU residents, 2015 |
| Ages 15–34 trips staying within their country | 75% | EU tourism trips, 2015 |
| EU residents aged 15+ participating in personal tourism | 65% | EU, 2024 |
| EU tourists making only domestic trips | 47% | EU tourists, 2024 |
| EU tourists making both domestic and foreign trips | 38% | EU tourists, 2024 |
These measures are not interchangeable: the 2015 figures focus on trips by ages 15–34, while the 2024 figures include all EU residents aged 15 and over and use traveler participation categories.
Trip length and transport choices
In 2015, EU residents aged 15–34 averaged 4.8 nights per personal tourism trip. Residents older than 35 averaged 5.5 nights. The younger group also used cars for 61% of personal tourism trips, compared with 69% among residents older than 35. Rail accounted for 13% of trips by ages 15–34 and 9% of trips by the older group. Source: Eurostat, “Young Europeans on tour”.
Eurostat’s 2019 age breakdown adds a nights-based measure. People aged 15–24 accounted for 13.1% of nights spent on EU personal tourism trips and 12.4% of the EU population aged 15 and over. People aged 25–34 accounted for 14.2% of tourism nights and 14.5% of the population. These shares concern nights, not the number of trips or travelers. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics - participation in tourism”.
The same 2019 comparison showed that people aged 60–74 generated 22% of EU personal tourism trips and 25% of nights while representing 20% of the population aged 15 and over. This provides context for interpreting younger travelers’ participation: age groups can contribute different shares of trips and nights, and a participation rate alone does not show trip duration.
International students in U.S. higher education
The United States hosted 1,126,690 international students at colleges and universities in the 2023/24 academic year, an increase of 7% from the prior academic year. International students accounted for 6% of the total U.S. higher-education population and contributed more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023. Source: Institute of International Education, “United States Hosts More Than 1.1 Million International Students at Higher Education Institutions, Reaching All-Time High”.
The U.S. total included 502,291 international graduate students, up 8% year over year, and 342,875 international undergraduates, down 1% from 2022/23. International students on Optional Practical Training numbered 242,782, up 22% year over year. New international students enrolling for the first time numbered 298,705.
India sent 331,602 students to U.S. higher education, up 23% year over year. Indian graduate enrollment reached 196,567, up 19%, and Indian students on Optional Practical Training reached 97,556, up 41%. China sent 277,398 students, down 4% year over year. Chinese undergraduates numbered 87,551, while Chinese students on Optional Practical Training numbered 61,552, up 12%.
These are academic-mobility counts rather than holiday-trip counts. They capture students hosted by U.S. higher-education institutions during the stated academic year and include an Optional Practical Training category.
U.S. students studying abroad
In the 2022/23 academic year, 280,716 U.S. students studied abroad for academic credit, a 49% increase from the previous academic year. Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France together hosted nearly 45% of U.S. study-abroad students. Source: Institute of International Education, “United States Hosts More Than 1.1 Million International Students at Higher Education Institutions, Reaching All-Time High”.
Seven destinations reached all-time highs for U.S. study-abroad participation: Denmark, Greece, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland. Australia and New Zealand returned to the 25 leading destinations for U.S. study-abroad students. The destination results describe participation by U.S. students studying abroad for academic credit, not all international travel by U.S. students.
A separate Fall 2024 Snapshot reported that international-student enrollment at reporting U.S. institutions grew 3% in fall 2024, within the 2024/25 academic year. International undergraduate enrollment grew 6%, while international graduate enrollment declined 2%. Optional Practical Training enrollment grew 12%, and new international enrollment decreased 5%. Source: Institute of International Education, “Fall 2024 Snapshot on International Student Enrollment”.
The snapshot uses reporting U.S. institutions and a different period from the 2022/23 study-abroad count, so its percentage changes should not be combined with that count as though they described one series.
Secondary-school mobility
More than 2,000 U.S. high schools enrolled 51,478 international students in fall 2024. F-1 visa holders accounted for approximately 66.7% of international secondary students, with F-1 enrollment reaching 33,721. China, Germany, and Spain were the three leading sending countries, and Chinese students numbered 10,040. Source: Institute of International Education and AIFS Foundation, “Joint Study on Globally Mobile Secondary Students”.
The secondary-school figures concern international students enrolled in U.S. high schools, not short-term tourism trips. They show that student mobility begins before higher education and that visa category and sending-country counts describe different dimensions of the same 2024 population.
For a broader historical market reference, WYSE estimated 284 million international trips in the global youth and student travel market in 2016. This is a historical estimate, not a 2026 forecast, and it covers a market rather than a single enrollment system. Source: WYSE Travel Confederation, “New Horizons III: The Student Traveller”.
Affordability and access
In 2024, 27.0% of the EU population could not afford one week of annual holiday away from home. The country range was wide: the share was 9% in Luxembourg and more than 40% in Romania, Greece, and Bulgaria. Source: Eurostat, “Tourism statistics - participation in tourism”.
Eurostat reports that the EU share unable to afford one week of annual holiday was 28.0% in 2019 and 28.7% in 2020, before falling to 27.7% in 2021 and 27.0% in 2024. The same source reports that 47.6% of EU residents made no personal trip of at least four nights in 2024.
These affordability and participation measures help explain why domestic travel remains important in the broader EU data, but they do not isolate students or identify the cost of a particular itinerary. They should be read alongside the age-group, destination, education-mobility, and trip-definition limits attached to each statistic.