Nostalgic travel imagery has often relied on black-and-white or desaturated visual conventions in both research and practice. However, Generation Z has grown up in a highly digitalized and color-rich media environment, raising an important question: do their nostalgic responses continue to conform to traditional visual conventions, or can they be more effectively elicited by contemporary color cues embedded in familiar travel imagery? Although extensive research has demonstrated that color influences emotional responses and behavioral intentions, its role in nostalgic travel imagery, particularly among Generation Z, remains insufficiently understood. To address this gap, the study examined the psychological effects of image color in nostalgic travel imagery among 33 Generation Z participants. An 8 (image color) × 4 (image theme) repeated-measures experiment assessed nostalgic affect, positive and negative affect, and visit intention. Image color produced significant main effects with large effect sizes across all four outcomes. In particular, compared with the grayscale condition, the original color condition elicited greater nostalgic affect, positive affect, and visit intention, as well as lower negative affect. Image theme significantly influenced nostalgic affect, negative affect, and visit intention, but not positive affect. Significant color × theme interactions were also observed across the four outcomes, suggesting that color effects may vary across thematic contexts; however, these interaction patterns are interpreted as exploratory. These findings challenge the exclusive association of nostalgic imagery with black-and-white visual conventions and show that original color imagery can serve as an effective nostalgic cue for Generation Z. They also highlight the emotional complexity of nostalgia-related responses and extend color psychology and nostalgia research into digital tourism communication. Practically, the findings suggest that destination marketers should consider original and contextually meaningful color treatments rather than relying uniformly on monochromatic nostalgic imagery.