BOSTON -- Family travel, already booming in the last decade or so,
will continue to gain momentum in the next century, experts who
specialize in tracking the market said.
Trends will include an increased focus on teens, unusual
destinations, active vacations and education, they said.
"The world is getting smaller for families, and part of that has
to do with frequent flyer mileage," said Dorothy Jordon, president
of New York-based TWYCH, or Travel With Your Children.
"People are looking less at traditional resort vacations, and
turning more to soft adventure and nature-oriented vacations,"
Jordon said.
She predicted that the educational component in children's
programs will continue, if only to assuage families' guilt at
taking children out of school at nontraditional vacation times.
Anticipating a huge resurgence in student and youth travel,
Jordon said "kids are traveling younger by themselves.
"We used to spend our junior year in college abroad and
traveling after graduation; now children are doing this in high
school."
Jordon predicted that as the population shifts and the number of
teens swells, active vacations will grow proportionately. No matter
the age of children, however, "entertainment rules," according to
Kyle McCarthy, editor of www.familytravelforum.com.
"I believe all forms of entertainment -- whatever retailers use
to market fast food, sneakers, computers, sportswear and other
products consumed by families -- will overwhelm the travel
marketplace," McCarthy said.
"With baby boomers aging into empty-nesters, 'family-friendly'
destinations will try to lure a shrinking pool of children under 18
with gimmicks and theatrics."
As to accommodations, McCarthy said suppliers are "going the way
of Holiday Inn," which offers two-bedroom family suites
accommodating a couple in one room and up to five in bunks and
trundle beds in the other.
"People want to replicate their home environment with
kitchenettes, a common living space and privacy, and I think you
will see more of that in new construction," she said.
Theme parks are taking on a more educational element, with rides
and costumed characters co-existing with learning centers in such
areas as computers and marine biology, McCarthy said.
She cited the Discovery Channel Camp at Atlantis on Paradise
Island in the Bahamas and the new, interactive Discovery Cove by
SeaWorld, Orlando, as examples of this trend.
McCarthy also noted an interest in combining "something
outdoors" with an urban experience, such as adding an extreme sport
or country sojourn to a trip to Paris or London.
As to hot spots in the next century, she singled out Latin and
South America, which she said will benefit from the popularity of
Costa Rica. A modest increase in travel to Canada, sparked by its
proximity, favorable exchange rate and plethora of outdoor
attractions, also is expected, she said.
McCarthy pointed to an increased interest in eastern Europe,
because of airline alliances and reasonable prices, as well as the
area's historical significance.
"Singapore is a wonderful family destination with several
Asian-based resorts offering great kids camps and family programs,"
she said, adding Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong
to her list of top spots.
"The barrier [to Asian destinations] is the length of the
flight, particularly for clients not based on the West Coast," she
said, "but in the next century, as they build airplanes to make
those distances faster while keeping air fares down, you will see
the world shrinking."
McCarthy pointed to the Internet as a key factor in influencing
travel in the next century, with children going on-line to do the
research.
"Already, resorts are marketing directly to children, and I
think the net will be a part of that with the creation of
children's web sites."
Travel agents who are skeptical about the role children already
play in planning the family vacation should pay attention to
statistics, McCarthy said.
According to a YP&B/Yankelovich Partners 1997 National
Leisure Travel Monitor survey, based on 1,600 American adults, 57%
of respondents said children were influential in selecting
destinations.
This translates to big bucks, Jayne Evans, executive vice
president and account managing director at Young & Rubicam Inc.
in New York, told attendees at a Travel & Leisure Family
Marketing symposium in February.
"Children aged 2 to 14 years old influenced $188 billion in
parental spending in 1997," Evans said.
"You can bet the travel industry has heard this message and will
be directing advertising toward our kids," according to
McCarthy.
"You'll begin to see all-inclusive resorts, airlines
restaurants, cruise companies and tour operators join theme parks
in promoting free gifts, wild and crazy activities, extreme sports
and all sorts of silly fun."
Once that fad passes, however, McCarthy predicted that parents
-- who will be squeezed more for time than money in the next
millennium -- will demand vacations that are physically and/or
mentally rewarding.
"Family options for adventure, ecotourism, language study,
exotic destinations, interactive and educational travel should
expand enormously and become affordable for everyone," according to
McCarthy.