Multi-Generational Travel

As we are now fully in the holiday season, with Thanksgiving approaching this week and family deeply on my mind, I was particularly thrilled when I came across this: one of the biggest trends in leisure is the rist of multi-generational travel. Coming from a close family, it has been natural to for my dad to travel with me and my kids, but I always fear that my children won’t want to do the same when they have their own families. Now that my oldest daugher is in college, one of my fears is that she will no longer want to partake in family vacations. But perhaps I can put that fear aside.

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The drivers behind this trend are varied: ageing but active grandparents, younger parents seeking deeper shared memories, and a desire for more togetherness post-pandemic. According to one travel industry survey, more than half of parents say they are planning trips with both their children and their grandparents. Further, as baby boomers have accumulated wealth, they are now eager to spend it on experiences rather than material goods. This means they are often footing the bill for these family trips and may be more willing to spend for a higher quality experience. In turn, hotels, cruises, tour providers, and others in the hospitality industry are catering to the needs of family travel and the industry is expected to grow steadily for the next several years (see chart below).

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The rationale behind the rise of this trend are both personal and practical including:

• Stronger family bonds: Spending extended time together across generations helps deepen relationships, share stories, and create lasting family memories

• Shared caregiving: With more adults present, parenting responsibilities can be shared with Parents get a break while grandparents enjoy quality time with the kids.

• Resource pooling: Splitting costs (accommodation, transportation, activities) across multiple families can make higher-end travel more accessible, and often more cost-efficient per person.

• Cross-generational learning: Children gain wisdom and perspective from older family members, while grandparents stay connected to modern trends and tech through their younger relatives.

 

The companies that benefit from this trend are the ones that can cater to this new cohort. That means Airbnb and hotels that can accommodate large groups (connected rooms, multi-room suites and villas), travel operators that can curate experiences for different ages and interests, cruise lines and family resorts hat inherently offer accommodation and activities catering to varying age groups.

The ones that may suffer are hotels and resorts that cater only to adults or nuclear families as they may miss margin expansion opportunities. That said, with the continued rise of luxury travel, there is plenty of opportunity for more traditional hotels to offer personalized services and experiences that can warrant a heftier price tag. Booking companies that don’t make it easy to book multiple rooms or family-friendly experiences, may also see loss of market share to platforms that cater specifically to this cohort.

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From our perspective at Somar, this trend reinforces the notion that consumer behavior is shifting from “what can I buy” to “what can I do.” On the personal front (yes, even for our own family), we’re seeing this at work: grandparents wanting more than “come visit us” and instead choosing “let’s all go somewhere together.”

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-Pedro Ramos
 

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