Family vacations are a key component of US leisure travel. 79% of consumers either took a family trip last year or plan to take one next year. As life expectancies grow and the US population ages, multigenerational and skip-gen travel are critical growth opportunities.
While the memories made through family travel travel are invaluable, making them happen isn’t easy or cheap. Multigenerational family travelers have many needs to juggle and are particularly cautious about budget and risks. Demonstrating value and making planning with multiple stakeholders as seamless as possible will help brands connect with this important audience. Forging those relationships will pay dividends: older generations often have significant assets for funding travel, and aren’t easily discouraged by economic uncertainty.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Factors impacting US consumers’ spending on travel
- Key demographics for family and multigenerational family travelers
- New products and campaigns targeting family travelers
- Family traveler behavior, including travel companions, planning and cost-sharing
- Family traveler attitudes, including concerns about travel risks
- Opportunities for travel companies to win more family travelers
A rising tide of active, often affluent seniors fuels growth for family and multigenerational travel and brands that can help families reconnect.
Fiona O’Donnell, Senior Director – Lifestyles, Culture & Identity, Multicultural, Travel & Leisure
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, “traveler” and “vacationer” are interchangeably used. Mintel has used the following definitions:
- Family vacationer: internet user aged 18+ who has taken a vacation with a family member in the past 12 months, or plans to take one in the next 12 months
- Multigenerational vacationer: a family vacationer whose travel party includes at least three generations
- Skip-gen vacationer: a family vacationer whose traveling party includes members of non-consecutive generations, without one of the generations in between them present
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Market predictions – scenario 1: mainstream view
- Market predictions – scenario 2: homegrown momentum
- What consumers want & why
- Opportunities
- Reinforce the value of family travel by focusing on connections and memories
- Use technology to ease group planning
- Support family in all its forms
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market context
- The desire to travel is strong and consumers are willing to spend
- Graph 1: top three financial goals for 2025 (rank), 2024
- Travel spending expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels
- Stabilizing inflation may calm travelers’ jitters
- Graph 2: consumer price index change from prior period, 2021-25
- Consumer optimism cautiously rising
- Graph 3: consumer sentiment index, 2016-25
- Geopolitical uncertainty may limit global travel
- Market drivers
- Fewer kids and older parents will shift the family travel landscape
- Graph 4: average age of mother at first birth, 1980-2020
- Older generations have significantly more wealth
- Graph 5: per capita net worth, by generation, Q1 2025
- Rising tide of seniors could encourage multigenerational trips
- Multigenerational households are often multicultural – and more likely to take multigenerational family vacations
- Graph 6: resides in multigenerational households, by race/ethnicity and foreign-borm, 2022
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CONSUMER INSIGHTS
- Consumer fast facts
- Multigenerational & family travelers
- Most have taken or are planning family vacations
- Gen Z, Millennials and parents overindex as family vacationers
- Graph 7: demographics of family vacationers – difference in index to average*, 2025
- Multigenerational and skip-gen travel are small portions of the broader family vacation market
- Graph 8: family vacation types, by family vacations taken and planned, 2025
- Graph 9: past year and next year multigenerational and skip gen travel, by multigenerational and non-multigenerational households, 2025
- Millennials are pivotal for the main family vacation types
- Graph 10: family vacation types – distribution, by generation, 2025
- Consider the kids – but as families blur and others join in, don’t forget the adults and their interpretation of family fun
- Graph 11: family travel companions, by past and planned trips, 2025
- Older and younger women, Black consumers are overrepresented among multigenerational family vacationers
- Graph 12: demographics of multigenerational travelers – difference in index to average*, 2025
- Black consumers are active in extended family travel
- Graph 13: family vacation types for past trips, by race/Hispanic origin, 2025
- Gen Z is more dependent on multigenerational and skip-gen travel for family vacation experiences
- Graph 14: family vacation types for past trips, by generation, 2025
- Managing the costs of family travel
- Family travelers are more likely to spread the costs
- Graph 15: division of payment for last family vacation, 2023 and 2025
- Appeal to the “host” of any multigenerational trip
- Graph 16: division of payment for last family vacation, by family vacation type, 2025
- Recent behaviors portend funding for future family vacations
- Graph 17: division of payment for next family vacation, 2023 and 2025
- Promote tools for making split payments more seamless
- Motivations for family travel
- Quality time together is a key motivator
- Key motivations for family travel
- Multigenerational family vacationers have more varied motivations
- Graph 18: motivations for family travel, by family travel types, 2025
- Parents want to relax and unwind – along with quality time with family
- Graph 19: family travel motivations, by gender and parental status, 2025
- Expedia reminds families of what they might be missing and gives them tools to capitalize on the moment
- Travel planning and influences
- Family vacationers could use more planning help
- Kids – especially adult kids – are critical stakeholders
- Graph 20: influencers on overall travel and transportation planning, by family travel companions, 2025
- Integrate group planning from the start
- Advance planning is key
- Focus on kids, peers when it comes to activity planning
- Graph 21: influencers on activity planning, 2025
- Graph 22: influencers on activity planning, by multigenerational travelers, 2025
- Let’s Jetty makes group trip planning fun
- Accommodation planning and decision factors
- For family vacationers and lodging, highlighting kids’ quarters is key
- Kids, parents drive accommodation selection
- Graph 23: influencers on planning, by lodging, theme parks, resorts, cruise, 2025
- Graph 24: multigenerational travelers – influencers on planning, by lodging, theme parks, resorts, cruise, 2025
- Multigenerational travelers want it all
- Graph 25: factors impacting lodging selection, by family travel types, 2025
- Parents reflect multigenerational family travelers’ priorities and look for lodging that has it all on-site
- Graph 26: factors impacting lodging selection, by parental status and gender, 2025
- Beaches thinks big
- Changes in travel plans & factors impacting
- Most family vacationers have made changes to earlier plans; cost-cutting is the key motivation
- Graph 27: changes made to this year’s vacation plans, by family travel types, 2025
- Economic factors and rising costs are more impactful for multigenerational travelers; skip-gen travelers are least price sensitive
- Graph 28: economic factors impacting travel plans, by family travel types, 2025
- Choice Hotels maximizes family time
- Affluent Black consumers plan to travel, but they are more attuned to safety issue
- Graph 29: non-economic factors impacting travel plans, by Black consumers and household income $75K+, 2025
- Attitudes toward family travel
- Family vacationers get a lot from travel with their loved ones – and expect a lot too
- Making memories and teachable moments are central to family travel
- Graph 30: attitudes toward family travel, any agree, 2025
- Help capture and preserve memories
- Include the potential to learn as a value-add in marketing family vacations
- Graph 31: attitudes on traveling with children, by gender and parental status, 2025
- Multigenerational travelers are the most cautious
- Graph 32: attitudes toward travel risks, by family travel types, 2025
- Air safety concerns could discourage distance travel
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING STRATEGIES
- Launch activity and innovation
- Expedia leverages AI and social to speed trip planning
- Backroads provides tours accessible to all generations
- Kensington and Ancestry partner to facilitate family heritage travel
- Royal Caribbean makes a push for family travelers
- Marketing and advertising
- Disney relies on IP in marketing across ages
- Airbnb makes a play for Vrbo’s family focus
- “Momfluencers” can help a brand reach family travelers
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APPENDIX
- Market definitions
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
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