Kids today are better travelled than their parents
A survey by TripAdvisor the popular travel community has shown than children today are truly a JetSet generation. 92% of travellers with children who were surveyed intend to take at least one family holiday in the next 12 months. This is an increase from 88% last year.
The survey which dealt with more than 1000 US travellers noted that 33% of those asked were planning to take both international and domestic trips in the coming year. This figure is 5% higher than last year and highlights an increase in willingness of US citizens to travel further for their holidays which is good news for many European destinations.
The survey also looked at popular activities for family holidays and disclosed some interesting results.
The top five family activities are
- Relaxing at the beach – 69%
- Touring a historic location 62%
- Going to a museum 50%
- Exploring a national park 46%
- Spending time at a theme park 41%
It should surprise no-one that beach holidays still top the poll. They have been the traditional family break for generations and still provide hours of family fun at a very modest cost. What will be more surprising for some people is the significant numbers of families who prefer to visit historic sites and museums rather than theme parks. For some this will be heartening news suggested a greater than expected interest in national culture while for those who manage amusement parks it suggests they have more work to do to convince families of the benefits of their venues.
The TripAdvisor survey also asked questions about travelling with children and how parents cope with the challenges posed by different types of transport.
44% of parents believe that aeroplanes are the most stress method of transport while only 16% said the same about car journeys. Perhaps the most surprising statistic in the entire survey is that 31% of those questioned said that they didn’t find travelling with children at all stressful.
Travelling Entertainment
Most parents agreed that keeping children entertained was the key to reducing stress and helping everyone arrive at their destination in a more relaxed frame of mind.
45% of parents admitted that they found technology the easiest way to entertain children during a long journey. A tv or dvd player was the preferred option.
Another 32% of parents tried to entertain their children by playing games with them. I Spy Memory games and for car journeys the License Plate game all got a mention here.
Despite the difficulties that most parents experienlced when travelling with children 52% of the parents agreed that travel is very important to their childs education.
One important aspect of family holidays that the survey did draw attention to was that 48% of parents agreed that the most enjoyable aspect of family holidays is spending time together as a family. Given the busy lives that so many parents lead today the opportunity to take time to bond as a family is becoming increasingly important to families.
Wherever your family goes on their holiday in this coming year they will be able to take the time to relax and enjoy each others company and that has to be a good thing.
