Family vacations top priority
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Busy modern lives bestow a burden of guilt that many of us do not spend enough time with family, and as such multigenerational travel is becoming the way to make amends.
A Preferred Hotels Group survey of US holiday makers shows that multigenerational vacations now represent half of all those taken by both grandparents and parents, and most get a taste for more with 77% of respondents agreeing that taking such a vacation “is something they try to do every year” – a sentiment that is particularly true for Millennials (91%) and Gen Xers (80%).
While these parties consisted of grandparents, parents, and their children on 44% of such trips, the makeup of the multigenerational travel group has expanded beyond immediate family to include siblings (31%), nephews/nieces (20%), and non-relative friends (20%) on one or more of the multigenerational vacations taken by the other 56%.
Interestingly each generation tends to adopt certain roles in the planning process. The kids call the shots and most actively participate in or influence vacation planning. Unfortunately for grandparents, the older generation tends to bank role multigenerational trips, or at least subsidise the younger generations.
In terms of destinations, the majority of holidays are taken domestically, although the Caribbean and Western Europe (28%) top the list of international “dream destinations.” The destinations of greatest interest within Europe are Italy (17%), England (16%) and France (16%).
Moreover, multigenerational travellers display great loyalty to the destinations they visit, with 35% intending to visit the same destination on their next multigenerational trip. Perhaps not surprisingly, beach vacations (35%) and theme park vacations (28%) are the most popular types of multigenerational vacations.
Commenting on the trend, Lindsey Ueberroth, president & CEO of Preferred Hotel Group, said: “While the growth of multigenerational travel has been a buzz in the hospitality industry for several years, shifts in the economy, new technology, and even contemporary parenting have had a measurable impact on how multigenerational travel is packaged, planned, taken and paid for.”
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