The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Travelling en famille has a new fun factor
Parents are looking for ever more memorable holiday experiences with their children, says Laura Fowler
With the prospect of proper family holidays on the horizon, parents are looking to build on the closer ties developed with their children over the past year when they next go away. So rather than aiming for all-inclusives which enable them to offload their little treasures in the kids’ club – if only for a sweet couple of hours while they enjoy cold beers and a book or an uninterrupted conversation – they are aiming at holidays designed for families to spend more time together, with engaging and evermore unusual experiences to keep everyone happy.
The forced hiatus from travel has prompted many to re-evaluate what they want from a holiday, warming to the idea of “making travel count” and seeking out authentic experiences from around the world – and sunbathing with an airport thriller while your children watch films is not exactly the meaningful, memorable experience we’re seeking this year.
“Increasingly we’re seeing families travelling to spend time together rather than shunting the children off to a kids’ club while parents lounge poolside,” says Carolyn Addison, head of Black Tomato. “They want to return from a trip with a formative experience or new skill they can enjoy together – in Costa Rica this might involve surfing lessons, Spanish classes, stargazing with an astronomer, or chocolate workshops.”
Jonny Bealby, founder of Wild Frontiers, agrees. “We have been seeing a steady rise in inquiries from families who are wanting to do more together following lockdown,” he says. “Increasingly, clients are inquiring about holidays that are special, as the children want to do something active and parents use their kids as an excuse for that bucket-list adventure they have been dreaming about.”
Another reason for the shift is the widespread desire to avoid crowds and instead stick together in family bubbles, taking over stand-alone accommodation in more distanced destinations.
“Kids’ clubs tend to be offered by larger hotels and interest in these has waned as parents look to stay away from the masses,” explains Nico Kostich, founder of Yonder. “We’ve seen a significant pattern emerging recently, up as much as 60 per cent, in which families are looking for remote hotels and lodges down those roads-less-travelled where they can enjoy spending time together. Far-flung beaches in Sri Lanka for oneto-one surfing lessons, lodges in Indian National Parks for private safaris, diving off lesser-known islands in Thailand – all have seen meteoric rises in interest for travel in 2021.”
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Families want time together rather than shunting the children off to a kids’ club
And it’s not just parents, according to Simon Lynch, sales director at Scott Dunn, who reveals that the luxury tour operator has been “hearing from grandparents who want to take their families somewhere remote and with a strong sense of adventure, as well as the luxury of their own space – whether this is an exclusive-use safari lodge or an epic self-drive trip along some of the world’s iconic routes”.
So, has enforced confinement actually helped us bond? Rossella Beaugié, founder of The Thinking Traveller – a villa rental company that specialises in arranging family experiences such as Greek dancing classes in the Ionian Islands, cheese-making in Puglia, or private family sailing courses on Capraia – believes so. “These long Covid lockdowns have brought many families closer together,” she says, “to find out that spending relaxed time en famille can actually be fun!”