Youth travel is becoming increasingly more important within global tourism. In the 1990’s, it represented 15% of the tourism market, with it increasing to 20% in the last decade, and expected to reach 25% in the near future. Rapidly rising middle class (from current US$2 billion to US$5 billion in 2030) and increased access to more disposable income, means more purchasing power - the number of youth travelers is on the rise - in 2012, nearly 30% of young people described themselves as ’’tourists” compared to about 15% in 2002. Recently, diversification in destinations and source markets has seen growth at the expense of developed countries across all youth travel sectors, incl. student and educational travel market [1-4].

Brazil, India, China or other emerging countries have been the markets of interest for many governments, destinations, investment capital or international brands wanting to develop and expand. They are recovering and rising faster than developed countries - gaining an increasingly more global market share. Internet is used more for reference, social content (reviews, rankings, sharing, and recommendations) and travel planning (destination research) than for actual online shopping and booking [5-9].

This slower growth of online booking in youth travel as opposed to global tourism underlines the importance of tour operators and travel agencies to the youth market. Tour operators and travel agencies represent an important distribution, booking and promotional channel in youth travel, accounting for up to 80% of all bookings, with increasing trend of their usage by end customers. There are more than 16,000 student tour operators and travel agencies estimated in this market. Youth tourism is one of the most important sectors of the tourism industry. The studies carried out by UNWTO show that: - Young - Young people travel more often than other tourists;

s• Young people rarely refrain from traveling because of political unrest, diseases and natural disasters and natural disasters ;

• Young people are pioneers who open new interesting territories;

• Young travelers not only receive cultural benefits from travel, but also contribute to the development of places they visit;

Youth tourism has long been not just a specialized type of tourism, because it is based on various aspects of youth lifestyle. For youth tourism:

One of the forms of training;

• a way to find new acquaintances;

• the opportunity to come into contact with other cultures;

• a source of career development;

• a means of self- development;

Youth tourism successfully develops and takes a leading position in the world market. In support of this, we present the data of a comprehensive study. The International Student Trial Confederation (ISTC) and the Association for Tourism Leisure and Education (ATLAS) conducted a study (2, p. 43), which allows shedding light on many aspects of such a complex phenomenon as youth tourism. The purpose of the study was to collect comprehensive information on young travelers. The survey involved 2,300 young people from Canada, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The research is unique, as it covers all stages of travel: from planning and booking of tickets and hotel rooms to the implementation of the trip itself [10-13].

Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents are students - 70%. Among the students, 89% are under the age of 26. Among specialists, 61% is also less than 26 years old. 70% of unemployed respondents under the age of 26 years. Education Respondents have a relatively high level of education, 34% of them have already received higher education, and another 25% are still studying [14-16].

Income

The stereotype that young travelers are poor is confirmed by half of the respondents. Nevertheless, relatively large travel budgets show that most of them are able to accumulate on a main trip or can supplement their income by working abroad. Earnings also increase with age, since most of those who earn little, are under the age of 26 years.

Backpacker, traveler or tourist?

In recent years, there has been a tendency to increase young “backpackers” - backpackers, who travel by hitchhiking, or on bicycles, or use only public transport and do not resort to the help of tourist companies.). When referring to one of the types of backpacker, traveler or tourist, many people rejected the label backpacker, even if they travel with a backpack and live in hostels. More than half identify themselves with the label “traveler”, compared to almost a third, which calls itself “tourists.”

Why do young people travel?

The main motivation, as a rule, is the study of other cultures, followed by the search for new sensations, raising the level of knowledge - all this demonstrates the desire to push with “other” people and territories. Those who consider themselves backpackers, are looking for contact with their fellow travelers; the “tourists” are dominated by the desire to visit friends and relatives during the trip, they also try to relax and relax as much as possible during the trip. Younger tourists (up to 26 years old) pay much attention to social contacts and impressions. Long trips are perceived by young people as “the only chance in life”, and they invest a lot of energy, energy and money in these trips [17,18].

What sources of information do young people use when planning their trips?

The main sources of information are the Internet and the advice of friends or relatives. The guides are older (after 26 years old), more experienced travelers and those who call themselves backpackers. Less experienced travelers use information provided by the travel agency.

How do they get to their destination?

70% use air transport, 30% - rail; Backpackers often use rail and bus services.

What do young people do on their trips?

77% visit historical places and monuments, 76% walk, 72% choose a quiet time, for example, go to a cafe, 72% go shopping; 28% are engaged in scientific research or language studies. Walking and cultural events are more often chosen by girls, men are focused on sports events and are in search of thrills.

What do young people get from traveling?

Cultural understanding comes to young people and there is a desire to travel more. According to UNWTO, the year 2014 was a record for international tourism. The data show that 1.1 billion tourists traveled in the past year. In the sphere of youth tourism - 220 million travelers. Taleb Rifai noted the growth in travel, despite the political situation in the world and the unstable health situation in some regions [3]. Now back to our country. First of all, we will determine the age of tourists. Young people are a socio-demographic group that is experiencing a period of social maturity, adaptation to the adult world and future changes (4, p. 104). Specific socio-historical conditions of society and cultural traditions determine the age framework of youth and youth. Since in different countries the process of socialization also proceeds unequally, there are different ideas about the borders of the youth age. At present, linking age to the notion of “youth” is becoming increasingly difficult, as young people postpone their entry to work, marrying and creating a family, and older people are diligently trying to stay young as long as possible. This emphasizes the fact that youth tourism is not only a matter of demography, but also a question of the style of travel. For example, youth accommodation facilities are now used by travelers of all ages who are trying to maintain the travel style characteristic of their younger counterparts. At present, there are various definitions of youth tourism (some of them are presented in Table 1). Such a variety of definitions is due to the fact that youth tourism is viewed from different sides :

Table 1: Various definitions of youth tourism.

As a journey of people between the ages of 16 and 30;

As travel for training purposes;

As travel for international exchange.

There is a need for such a definition that would unite all this diversity of definitions into one that most fully expresses the essence of youth tourism. In order to give this definition, it is necessary to proceed from the definition of tourism as such, which is contained in the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Tourism”.

Based on the definition of tourism, we try to give the following definition of the concept we are interested in: youth tourism is temporary trips (journeys) of citizens aged 16 to 30 from a permanent residence of no more than six months for the purpose of rest, learning, studying other cultures, professional experience in the country (place) of temporary residence.

Youth tourism has a number of socio-cultural advantages, such as increasing youth awareness in matters of culture, acquiring personal qualities, improving language skills. As a result of trips, young people become more tolerant to each other, friendlier, more confident in themselves. For some, tourist trips become a turning point in life: for many, youth tours become the first independent travel without parents, there is a sense of independence. Youth tourism helps many people learn to solve problems and cope with stress.

But in addition to sociocultural benefits, there are a number of advantages associated with the development of tourism and marketing, which distinguishes youth tourism from other types of tourism:

• the seasonality effect decreases;

• tourism extends to new territories;

• the tourist market becomes more stable;

• Innovation is stimulated.

Unfortunately, in our country, unfortunately, there is no integrated approach to the development of youth tourism. Young people do not know their country. Uzbekistan is also unpopular for tourists from other countries. There are no benefits for young travelers, and hence - there is no incentive for travel around the country, probably because there is not one agency that would only deal with youth tourism.

So, we can conclude that young people travel in search of adventure, new sensations, to learn new cultures. They have travel experience, and they try to make repeated trips. In addition, their travels are complex, carefully planned and affect further personal and professional life. Obviously, after one successful trip they will strive to make trips again and again, which increases the potential of the youth tourism market. This indicates the need to develop new products to meet the needs of the target audience of this market. But do not consider young people as a homogeneous target group, because young people differ in their preferred style of travel. There is a need to develop products aimed at those who prefer a special style of travel. And these conclusions can be attributed not only to foreign countries where the study was conducted. Conclusions are also applicable to our country, where very little attention is paid to the problems of youth tourism.

Thus, the article reveals that in the foreign practice youth tourism is actively developing as a separate kind, due attention is paid to it, while in our country youth tourism is not allocated in an independent form and is not fixed by law. We formulated a general definition of youth tourism, which, in our opinion, can give rise to the study of problems of this type of tourism.