Family Travel Trends 2015

It sure seems to me like 2015 is shaping up to be THE year of family travel.

My social media feeds are a constant stream of beautiful images of families on epic adventures around the globe, news from tour operators and hotels who have launched new family programs, and research reports illustrating the importance of educating our children to be global-minded citizens.

I recently started digging into some of the facts and statistics about family travel, and discovered this is much more than just a passing trend. It's getting easier than ever to plan and book an amazing family vacation. Here are five interesting family travel trends and how they might inspire a little family wanderlust!

The Internet is Still King When it Comes to Planning Family Travel

The most widely used information source to plan leisure trips continues to be the Internet. This includes everything from reading travel blogs, checking out links from Facebook or Reddit, and reading reviews on Trip Advisor. According to Google, 26% of travelers are also using their smartphone to dream and plan about their next adventure.

Google?s most recent algorithm update, which places heavy emphasis on mobile responsiveness for web sites, pushes travel websites to support mobile usage in a big way.?This means it?s going to be easier than ever to multi-task trip research while at soccer practice, waiting for school pickup, or feeding the baby,

Check out Fathom's list of inspiring travel sites, Booking.com's new "destination finder" and a similar inspiration tool from Trip Advisor for a heavy dose of travel inspiration next time you have some time to kill.

Planning Family Travel is Officially Stressful

Recent research proves what busy Moms have known all along; planning family travel is stressful. In fact, a full 74 percent of women said that they found family vacation planning stressful.

Is this hotel the best option for our family? How safe is it? How am I ever going to pack for the whole family? My kids will be a nightmare on the flight. What is someone gets sick? I totally get it. I've had these stresses and fears too.

The good news is that the travel industry has taken note of this and is working hard to make family travel easier and less stressful than ever before. Industry associations like the Family Travel Association (full disclosure, I'm lucky enough to be part of this amazing team!), act as planning resources dedicated to pointing travelers to the best, family-friendly travel experiences around the world.

Also, tour operators like Journeys International?create family-friendly trips in conjunction with the best people on the ground in destinations around the world solely focused on making it easy and stress-free for families to plan and book travel.

CHILDREN are driving the family travel trend

Nearly all (98 percent) of students in a?recent survey from Project Explorer?agreed that a strong understanding of world history and events is critical to developing solutions to a global problem. If this isn?t support for and reason to travel I don?t know what is!

Research from World Savvy also shows?that students who learn about global issues are more than twice as likely to see the importance of personally taking social action.

Global learning encourages awareness and critical thinking about issues such as poverty, climate change, religious and cultural differences, world trade and politics. Thanks to global travel experiences, children become?interested in being better global citizens from a young age.

Here are a few ways to fuel this lust for global understanding on your next family adventure. Try a language immersion program, see how other families are embracing the concept of World Schooling, and get even the youngest kids interested in travel via a program like Little Passports.

Help Children Be Competitive in Today?s Global Economy

The number ofmultinational corporations?rose from 7,000 in the 1990s to 65,000 in 2013.

Nine out of 10 students, teachers and industry leaders recognize that jobs are becoming increasingly international.

Students are correct in recognizing that jobs are becoming increasingly international. The number of multinational corporations continues to rise as developments in technology and transportation revolutionize the work force.

There is broad understanding that globalization results in companies that are more diverse than ever before. Exposing children to global business opportunities from a young age is the best thing parents can do to prepare them for a global business environment.

Family Travel Becomes Multi-Generational Travel

Family travel is no longer made up of two parents and a couple kids. Grandparents and extended family are increasingly getting in on the action. In fact, multigenerational vacations now represent half of all vacations taken by both grandparents and parents. While these parties consisted of grandparents, parents, and their children on 44% of such trips, the makeup of the multigenerational travel group has expanded beyond immediate family to include siblings (31%), nephews/nieces (20%), and non-relative friends (20%) on one or more of the multigenerational vacations taken by the other 56%.

According to a recent national survey conducted by Preferred Hotel Group, grandparents are also increasingly footing the bill. Grandparents, more so than parents (35% versus 25%), felt inclined to pay for multigenerational trips to ?help family members enjoy a vacation they otherwise could not afford,? according to Preferred?s survey.

Maybe it's time to sit down with ?grandparents and other extended family members and plan a big, multi-generational family adventure abroad!

So what do you think? Does these family travel trends make you eager to hit the road with your family this year? Where are you headed? I want to hear all about it!

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