MANILA -- Younger generations are at the forefront of driving interest to travel internationally as the COVID-19 pandemic threat recedes.

Citing their own research, YouGov global sector head of travel and tourism Eva Stewart said millennials (or those born between the '80s and mid '90s) have the "highest and most sustained level of interest to travel" amid the global health crisis among all age groups.

"Millennials are still the engine of travel around the world regardless of the region," she said, not citing figures, during a panel discussion at the World Travel and Tourism Council global summit in Manila on Thursday.

The technology-steeped Gen Zs (or those born from the late '90s to early 2010s), on the other hand, are among the most likely to go on "revenge travel," as they continue to find inspiration on social media.

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"I think it's going to be interesting to monitor what Gen Zs want because they grew up with technology... They find so much inspiration and demand from user-generated content on social media, so when they see their friends and family traveling again, they want to be on the road," Stewart said. "So they go on revenge travel because they've been waiting for two-and-a-half years."

"And Gen Zs feel so much more confident about their finance now than they do before the pandemic," she added, citing their data. "So there's a good chance to lure them [to travel even more]."

Stewart observed that older generations such as baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) and Gen Xs (those born between 1965 and 1980) are also more confident about travel this year.

In particular, they are more inclined to go on a cruise or visit the countryside.

"For baby boomers, in particular, they want to reconnect with their friends and family, and go to destinations where they have some relation to or have been there before and enjoyed it," she said, adding that they are also in the "best position" to spend on travel.