{"id":208952,"date":"2026-06-04T06:35:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/?p=208952"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T20:00:08","slug":"gen-z-millennials-looking-to-travel-to-live-events-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/gen-z-millennials-looking-to-travel-to-live-events-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z, Millennials looking to travel to live events in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-184412\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Flight-Centre-GettyImages-SportsTourism_1023x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1023\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Flight-Centre-GettyImages-SportsTourism_1023x768.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Flight-Centre-GettyImages-SportsTourism_1023x768-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Flight-Centre-GettyImages-SportsTourism_1023x768-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A new Flight Centre Canada survey \u2013 conducted by YouGov \u2013 being released just before the 2026 FIFA World Cup reveals 80% of Gen Z and millennial Canadians are interested in travelling beyond their home province for a live event this year. Though caution is high amid rising costs and global uncertainty, many see once-in-a-lifetime events as worth the spend, citing the value of making core memories with friends and family.<\/p>\n<p>When asked what makes travelling for a game or concert worthwhile, zillennial Canadians said:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Creating lasting memories (64%)<\/li>\n<li>Spending meaningful time with loved ones (63%)<\/li>\n<li>Enjoying the atmosphere and excitement of a live crowd (49%)<\/li>\n<li>Being part of a shared moment (34%)<\/li>\n<li>Supporting a team, player or athlete in-person (33%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Amra Durakovic, Head of Communications at Flight Centre Canada, said: \u201cIt\u2019s not just about what happens on the field or the stage. It\u2019s about the people, the place and the shared experience. I recently flew to Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft alongside 320,000 fans \u2014 a record for the city. There\u2019s something electric about experiencing a destination during a major event. It makes you feel part of something bigger, while discovering a place you might not otherwise visit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The preferences of zillennials are driving growth in the sports tourism complex in particular, which\u00a0accounted for 10%\u00a0of global tourism spending in 2025 and is projected to reach US$1.3 trillion by 2032. In 2026, zillennial sports fans are most interested in watching soccer (39%) live, followed by football (36%), basketball (33%) and hockey (32%).<\/p>\n<p>With the FIFA World Cup coming to Canada this year, desire to see a live match is at an all-time high with 92% of zillennial soccer fans wanting to travel to a game. Eight in 10 (82%) hope to be part of the moment on home turf and many are open to travelling abroad with 48% considering a trip to the U.S. and 31% to Mexico. Affordability and access are emerging as key factors shaping how Canadians plan to participate.<\/p>\n<p>Flight Centre bookings for this summer reflect a similar trend with domestic travel up more than 17% year over year. Mexico bookings are also up 6%, while U.S. travel is beginning to stabilize &#8212; up nearly 2%. Specifically, there are pockets of growth in key event-driven destinations including California and Texas, both FIFA World Cup 2026 host regions.<\/p>\n<p>Even as external pressures &#8212; from pricing to global volatility &#8212; shape travel decisions, demand for shared, live experiences remains resilient. It now becomes an opportunity for the travel industry and sports organizations\u00a0to deliver more accessible ways to participate through a range of price points, packages and travel options.<\/p>\n<p>Go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flightcentre.ca\">www.flightcentre.ca<\/a> for more.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new Flight Centre Canada survey \u2013 conducted by YouGov \u2013 being released just before the 2026 FIFA World Cup reveals 80% of Gen Z and millennial Canadians are interested in travelling beyond their home province for a live event this year. Though caution is high amid rising costs and global uncertainty, many see once-in-a-lifetime<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/gen-z-millennials-looking-to-travel-to-live-events-in-2026\/\">more &#8250;<\/a>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":208966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"kia_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,285],"tags":[2226],"front_page":[113],"class_list":["post-208952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-trends-research","tag-flight-centre-canada","front_page-lede-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208953,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208952\/revisions\/208953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208952"},{"taxonomy":"front_page","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/front_page?post=208952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}