Youth Travel Matters: Understanding the Global Phenomenon of Youth Travel offers a global overview of the youth and student travel industry, by revealing the latest trends in youth travel destinations, products and innovations.The report, developed by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Youth Student & Educational Travel Confederation (WYSE Travel Confederation), a UNWTO Affiliate member, shows that the unique motivations of young travellers make this market extremely important to the key objectives of the global tourism agenda and that the personal social and economic value of youth, student and educational travel is increasingly being recognised by educational institutions, employers, official tourism organisations and governments worldwide.This report explains the uniqueness of this segment, its wish to explore and engage with cultures. It focuses on the special mix of their travel ambitions with study, work, volunteer placements and adventure. It also explains why they tend to stay much longer and therefore spend more than the average tourist, interacting more closely with the communities that they visit and making a direct contribution to local businesses.