Trip Planner 2016-17 Trip Planner For Group Leaders | Page 6

PARKS CANADA/SCOTT MUNN

Ask the Experts

Elk Island National Park

VACATIONS FOR GENERATIONS
Get the experts’ take on how family travel
is growing in scope and popularity
by Bob Rouse

First of all, what is family travel?
Schretter: The face of family travel has changed dramatically over
the years. My definition is a group of family members traveling
together, and that’s regardless of age, type of travel or the
combinations of relatives: parents, children, grandparents, aunts and
uncles, etc. It’s important to look for common motivations, and family
travel is often about bonding, experiencing, celebrating—creating
lifelong family memories.
Armstrong: We have a similar definition: parents traveling with
children, multigenerational groups traveling together and larger
reunion-type groups.
Larsen: Family travel can also be a search for family. It can be a trip
to meet distant relatives; a heritage journey, perhaps to see the home
where Grandpa lived before he came to America; or travel to an event
such as a family reunion.

How does faith enter the family travel equation?
Nancy Schretter
Family Travel
Network

Paul Larsen
Ed-Ventures Inc.

Tom Armstrong
Tauck

As with any group, families that travel together can benefit
from the assistance of a professional tour operator, especially
when it’s multiple generations of relatives. To gather insights,
ideas and helpful tips for those who map out family travel,
we reached out to three travel industry experts: Nancy
Schretter, founder and managing editor of the Family Travel
Network; Paul Larsen, president of Ed-Ventures Inc. and a
specialist in faith-based travel; and Tom Armstrong, corporate
communications manager for Tauck and its family-focused
brand, Tauck Bridges.

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trip planner

Larsen: Faith-based travel can be a family enjoying quality time and
experiencing their faith on a tour to the Vatican, for example, or to Sight
& Sound Theatres to enjoy a show (see page 40). It can be families
taking a mission trip together, or perhaps it’s travelling to the place
where an older relative was baptized and learning about his or her faith.

What does the research tell you about family travel?
Schretter: It continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments
of today’s travel market, and multigenerational travel is a huge trend
across almost every price point. I can cite a few studies:
· According to a study by Preferred Hotel Group,
“multigenerational vacations represent about half of all
vacations taken by parents and grandparents.”
· The results of the 2016 Virtuoso Travel Dreams Survey just
came out, and multigenerational vacations topped the list of
dream vacations.