Future of Family Travel

What are my predictions of the future?  My personal feelings on the future of Family Travel is  it will start to be more focused.  No longer just having fun and spending time together, Family Travel will be more focused on things like education, adventure, or service. More focused on things that make up those Family values.  

We see evidence of this with more and more families using the holidays to teach their children about helping in their communities.  Service ... like feeding the homeless is becoming a holiday ritual for many families.  A natural extension of this will be Service Vacations.  Where a family will spend their vacation helping out.  This could be in economically depressed countries or in helping out in a local organic garden where the food is produced to be given to those less fortunate. One example of this is a whole cruise line devoted to social impact. According to Travel Weekly ... " In its first year of operation, the Fathom brand is expected to deliver about 35,000 guests to the Dominican Republic, where they will help teach English, work on reforestation or water purification projects or help a women’s cooperative harvest cocoa and make chocolate."

Educational opportunities abound in travel!  How about a trip to the Galapagos Islands?  How about a trip to Germany to discover your German heritage?  How about a trip to Historic Williamsburg to learn about the early days of our country.  

Adventure travel has already started to become a very hot market.  Zip lining through a rainforest.  Mountain camping.  Even working in a Dude Ranch! Whole niches of travel have grown up around Family Adventure Travel.  Hike through Yellowstone, bike through the hidden paths in the National Park, then encounter bears, geysers, and rapids.  All the while ending each day in a comfortable hotel room and warm food!

Take any of these and add in a bit of fun and some family time and it could be your ideal Family Getaway for the future.  This is where the Travel Professional comes in.  Time is precious.  Busy parents already have full plates.  Planning one of these Family trips takes a lot of time.  Coordinating all of the intricacies of lodging, food and activities; scheduling the air, transfers, and ensuring the safety of the tours, is a full time job!  Having a Travel Professional who knows your family, their likes and dislikes, on your team makes it work!

Your perfect Family Vacation awaits!