Solo Travellers
Gen Z’s new rules of travel include 7% more solo trips, 10% more UPI payments

Gen Z in India is rewriting the travel rulebook — choosing solo adventures, flexible payments, and social-media-inspired itineraries. Cleartrip, a Flipkart company and one of India’s fastest-growing online travel technology platforms, has released new data that offers a window into this emerging cohort’s evolving travel habits.
According to Cleartrip’s latest Gen Z Travel Report, younger travellers aren’t just booking trips—they’re curating highly personalised experiences that reflect independence, convenience, and digital-first choices.
“Gen Z travellers are rewriting the rules of travel. For them, it’s not just a break, but a lifestyle choice and form of self-expression,” a Cleartrip spokesperson said.
1. Solo Travel is on the Rise
Cleartrip’s data shows Gen Z is 7% more likely to choose solo trips compared to other age groups. This marks a sharp shift from traditional family-driven holidays where choices and budgets were shared. Today’s younger travellers are heading to offbeat, experience-driven destinations—choosing adventure, nature, and quiet over sightseeing tours.
2. Digital-First, Flexible Payments
Gen Z’s independent streak shows up in how they pay. They use UPI 10% more often than other age groups, and over 10% prefer EMI-based travel payments, indicating an aspirational mindset: they want comfort and luxury, but on their own financial terms.
3. Convenience Matters
Meal-attached bookings are becoming more popular among Gen Z, highlighting a demand for hassle-free, full-service experiences that make travel smoother and more comfortable.
4. Flexibility and Value are Top Priorities
Flexible options like Cleartrip’s ClearChoice are particularly popular with Gen Z travellers, who value spontaneity and the freedom to change plans. They’re also about 1 in 10 more likely to redeem reward points like SuperCoins and use travel coupons 1.5 times more often than other age groups, showing a keen eye for value.
5. Instagram is the New Travel Agent
Nearly 80% of Gen Z travellers decide on destinations after watching Instagram videos, making short-form social content their primary travel guide. This underscores their appetite for highly visual, peer-driven, and instantly shareable travel inspiration.
Together, these trends paint a portrait of a generation that isn’t just travelling more—it’s travelling differently. For Gen Z, trips are about self-expression, personal freedom, and digital convenience. As brands like Cleartrip adapt to these preferences, the future of Indian travel is set to look increasingly solo, flexible, and tailored to the individual.
Solo Travellers
6 Affordable Hotels in Thailand to Fulfill Your “White Lotus” Dreams on a Budget

The first luxury hotels in Thailand opened over a century ago, but the nicest affordable hotels in Thailand promise an equally memorable visit without the hefty price tag. Alongside sprawling Four Seasons, Mandarin Orientals, and Ritz Carltons are beautiful, credit card–pleasing boutique hotels and independent resorts that, if you book the right room at the right time of year, will let you revel in luxurious facilities without spending a fortune. Whether you’re traveling around the country, in need of somewhere to stay to complement your two-week itinerary, or sticking to one of the best islands in Thailand, finding the right hotel can really enhance the experience. From where to stay on infamous islands like Phuket and Koh Samui (home to the uber-luxe White Lotus properties) to lesser-known hotspots like Koh Yao Noi, here are a handful of the best affordable hotels in Thailand.
How we choose the best affordable hotels in Thailand
Every hotel review on this list has been written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination. When choosing hotels, our editors consider properties across price points that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination, keeping design, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind.
Solo Travellers
Travelling to Japan this summer? Beat the heat with these cooling dishes

Once caught, the noodles are dipped in tsuyu (a chilled, umami-rich sauce made from soy, mirin and dashi) then slurped down between bites of tempura or cool slices of cucumber. “It’s the perfect dish for summer when the heat dulls your appetite,” says Ishi Take, director at Chihonoie. “Nagashi somen is light, refreshing and easy to eat – even when [it’s so hot outside that] nothing else sounds appealing.”
He adds, “We get all kinds of visitors here – parents with kids, couples, even travellers from overseas. Everyone gathers around the bamboo flumes, laughing and trying to catch the noodles. It’s not just a meal; it’s a shared summer memory.”
Solo Travellers
Big Sky Remains Good for Ski and Snow, But Summer Has Entered the Chat

Last year the rustic-chic Lone Mountain Ranch unveiled Auric Room 1915, a members-only supper club and venue where overnight guests can retreat into cowhide-swathed booths to enjoy fried chicken and pours of 18-year-old Elijah Craig bourbon. True to its cattle-ranch roots, the hotel still devotes Thursday nights all summer long to the rodeo, a rowdy, locally beloved spectacle of cowboy and cowgirl culture complete with Montana beef brisket sandwiches and plenty of beer.
Finally, in the Spanish Peaks, Montage Big Sky, which opened in 2021, expanded its lodging options last year with 47 new residences—including 15 freestanding Mountain Homes, each with five or six bedrooms—adding to the resort’s 100 original rooms and suites. Guests can take advantage of all the hotel’s perks, such as access to Crazy Mountain Ranch, an 18,000-acre working cattle ranch with ample terrain for horseback riding; an 18-hole golf course; and summertime outdoor excursions like heli-fly-fishing tours that take guests to remote stretches of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers.
This article appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
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