New survey follows trends of family travel

In a recent survey commissioned by Best Western International, the creatively titled: the 2007 Best Western International Family Vacation Study; lays out the habits of vacationing families were put under the microscope. Some common themes reoccurring are that holidays are getting shorter, locations are becoming more exotic, and pets are replacing a pesky grandma or a noisy aunt or uncle.

Among adult Americans, the results show that an 88% majority say that their holidays today are of a different style altogether from their youth and 55% figure their jaunts are more expensive than they remember when they were wee tots. Inflation, innit?

Not surprisingly, value for money is the biggest factor in choosing a family holiday, but Emily Kaufman, family travel expert at Best Western says, ‘Though value for the money is still a primary factor for many American families, today’s vacation experience is impacted by a number of changes in the way they spend their free time. For example, parents who remember taking simple family road trips to visit relatives, or go camping or fishing when they were kids, are now embarking on more frequent, yet shorter getaways to places they never dreamed of visiting when they were young.’