1. Family Travel Industry Study 2017
Peter Bopp
Director of Strategy

2. 200 Participants
Tour Operators Destinations/Tourist Boards Accommodations/Hotel/Resorts Travel Agents Media Writers Dude Ranches Cruise Lines Theme Parks Associations Media Companies Travel Industry Suppliers and Services Marketing/PR Firms
200 Respondents in the Family Travel Industry participated in our survey this year. Of these, the largest groups of participants came from these top 5 categories: Tour Operators; Destinations/Tourist Boards/CVBs; Accommodations – including Hotels/Resorts and all other forms of accommodations like home rentals and exchanges; Travel Agents/Counselors/Advisors; and Media Writers - independents, bloggers, etc.
We also had participation from the broad range of the rest of the industry and FTA membership, including Dude Ranches, Cruise Lines, Media Companies, Industry Suppliers and Services, Associations, and Marketing/PR firms.
Respondents comprised 61% FTA members and 39% non members.

3. Industry is experiencing strong growth in family travel
80% are seeing robust or moderate growth in the current year.

4. Industry is experiencing strong growth in family travel
80% are seeing robust or moderate growth in the current year.
50% of respondents are earning more than half of their revenue from family travel.

5. Industry is experiencing strong growth in family travel
80% are seeing robust or moderate growth in the current year.
50% of respondents are earning more than half of their revenue from family travel.
More than 55% or respondents have experienced 5% or higher annual growth in both revenue and customers served.

6. Industry is experiencing strong growth in family travel
80% are seeing robust or moderate growth in the current year.
50% of respondents are earning more than half of their revenue from family travel.
More than 55% or respondents have experienced 5% or more growth year over year in both revenue and customers served.
Expectations for future growth are even stronger – 88% see robust/moderate growth in 3-5 years

7. Top client reasons for family travel
Client’s top reasons for family travel cluster around their desires to expose their children to different destinations, activities and cultures, as well as bonding as a family or multigenerational family. Finally, they cite practical reasons around annual family vacations and school breaks.

8. Top Activities Beach/Pool/Swim 40% Wildlife Viewing 35%
National & State Parks %
Domestic Tours %
Theme/Amusement Parks %
All Inclusive Resorts %
Walking/Hiking %
Foreign Tours %
Cruising %
Kid’s Clubs at hotel, destinations %
Respondents were asked about the top 5 activities requested/booked by clients. Here are the top activities that earned over 20% response.

9. Top Destinations Europe 44% Caribbean 42% US: South 37%
Mexico/Central America %
US: East %
US: West %
Africa %
South America %
US: Midwest %
Canada %
Respondents were asked about the top 5 destinations requested/booked by clients. Here are the top destinations that earned over 14% response.
Note that US: South includes Florida, and US: West includes California – both prime destinations for family vacation activities.

10. Repeat Customers, Recommendations & Travel Agents are most productive marketing tools
We asked respondents which engagement and marketing tools are most productive to drive family travel customer traffic. Respondents selected their top five strategies, in rank order.
On this chart, the bottom dark red line represents the percentage of first choice – most productive strategies. The top pink line represents the cumulative average across the top five strategies.
As is clear from this chart, repeat customers, recommendations and word of mouth are the most productive strategies to drive traffic, along with travel agents. These are followed by online strategies, including their organization’s website, search engine optimization, and social media (among top five)