Travel Boom: Young Tourists Spent $217 Billion Last Year, More Growth Than Any Other Group

What happens next is the nexus of the debate: When you pay the online provider the cost of the room plus the tax, they forward the contracted amount to the hotel. The hotel then forwards the taxes on the contracted rate on to state and local governments. But theres a gap between the taxes the consumer pays and the taxes for which the hotel is responsible and the hotel industry wants to close that gap.

Our research shows that the nature of youth travel has changed enormously in the past decade, said David Chapman, director general for the WYSE Travel Confederation. Young travelers today want, more than ever, to enrich themselves with cultural experiences, to meet local people and to improve their employability when they return home. With young people traveling further, staying away for longer, spending more, keeping in touch more and integrating with overseas communities on a scale not seen before, the industry is becoming far broader than ever before, he added. Highlights from the report: At a time of rising youth unemployment and global economic austerity, more young people than ever before are traveling to gain work, educational and cultural experiences, while those traveling purely for leisure has fallen from over 75 percent in 2007 to just 47 percent. More young travelers are shunning the traditional sun, sea and sand holidays to improve their resumes. According to the report, 22 percent of young travelers want to learn a language, 15 percent want to gain work experience, and 15 percent travel to study all significantly up from 2007.