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Young travellers are more likely to be pulling a long a case with wheels than wearing a backpack these days.
Photo: Getty Images
But those days are becoming a thing of the past. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's not necessarily a good thing. It just is. And you only have to look around you to see the evidence that it's real.
Budget travel had changed pre-pandemic. Check out the spate of "flashpacker" hostels appearing in every popular tourist city, the way accommodation providers were having to adapt to the demands of young travellers. People wanted mod-cons, they wanted privacy, they wanted space, they wanted something that was going to look good on Instagram, and they were prepared to pay extra for it.