Affordability is the most dominant challenge for respondents, and is a major reason why parents with access to paid vacation days do not use more of them for family travel.The average annual spending on family travel across parent respondents was $3,835. 77% of parent respondents have traveled with their children in the past three years, and 70% are planning to travel with their children in the coming three years.These families tend to spend more on family travel, and are more likely to increase their spending on both domestic and international travel. The Survey also indicated that Asian-American families are emerging as a strong segment for family travel. Rainer Jenss, who is the founder of the Family Travel Association, added, “Today’s grandparents are taking advantage of the fact that they are living healthier, longer lives, and are vacationing with their grandkids, either traveling with their children and grandchildren, or giving parents time off by taking their grandkids away themselves.” Multigenerational travel is more about enjoying quality time as a family- beach and lake/mountain vacations are more common with accommodations that include kitchen facilities for families to prepare and eat meals together.” Minnaert elaborated that “in the instance of skip-generational travel, there is a stronger focus on activities and attractions, and grandparents tend to worry more about keeping the children safe and healthy during their time away. In contrast, multigenerational travel occurs less frequently, but the average spending on these types of vacations is usually higher because of their longer duration. One of the key findings is that skip-generational travel is more common and often takes the form of shorter trips. The survey examined two types of travel with grandparents: skip-generational travel (grandparents traveling with their grandchildren, without the parents present), and multigenerational travel (travel with grandparents, parents, and grandchildren). On a more positive note, according to the Survey, “Gramping” or skip-generational travel is a growing travel option for families. This year, only 70% of parent respondents are intending to travel with their children in the next few years. Since 2017, that percentage has decreased. When the survey was first conducted in 2015, 93% of parents indicated that they were planning to travel with their family in the coming years.
The data confirms 82% of parents agree that affordability is the main reason they forego taking family vacations. “Parents know family vacations are very important, but the strain of paying for travel weighs heavily on the American household budget,” noted Lynn Minnaert, academic director and clinical associate professor at the Tisch Center of Hospitality, who served as the lead researcher for the survey. This is due to the high cost of traveling. It revealed some interesting trends-Asian-American families have emerged as a promising segment in the market, but overall, parent intent to travel with children is down for the third year in a row. The 2019 Family Travel Survey, now in its 5 th year of publication, polled a total of 1,580 parents and 1,168 grandparents. Tisch Center of Hospitality and the Family Travel Association (FTA) collaborate on research regarding trends in family travel-a $160 billion industry.
NEW YORK, Novem– Each year, the NYU School of Professional Studies Jonathan M.