Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
with the growing opportunities for grandparents and grandchildren to
holiday together (called 'grandtravelling'). As families are more mobile and
grandparents live more active and independent lives than any previous
generation and as grandparents and grandchildren often live too far apart
to see each other regularly, so grandparents are always looking for ways
to draw their families together and strengthen the relationship with their
grandchildren. Characteristics of the elderly population include lots of free
time, willingness to travel and a desire to spend time with their family,
especially grandchildren. The baby boomer generation, in particular, is better
off than any other generation has been and, consequently, its members are
spending more money on grandchildren. Hence, the grandtraveller is born,
especially during school holidays, when parents may have to work.
The concept of grandtravel was first put into practice by Helena Koenig,
who set up the tour operator Grandtravel in 1989 in Maryland (Yeoman,
2008). Grandtravel runs escorted tours and has received over 15,000 enquiries
without any advertising. The Walt Disney Corporation was another pioneer
of the idea of grandparents travelling with their grandchildren. In 1998,
Disney recognised opportunities to attract grandparents and grandchildren
to Disney theme parks for holidays and the company offered special packages
and travel arrangements specifically for this market. Grandtravelling is
popular because it offers something for everyone involved, even the parents,
who are not travelling. Grandparents are able to spend quality time with
their grandchildren without interference from the parents. The parents are
able to relax, knowing their children are away with someone they trust.
Family models
The family structure is changing from a horizontal to a vertical model (see
Figure 3.5), therefore tourism suppliers need to provide for a diversity of
facilities and/or offer a high degree of flexibility such as 'family tickets'
that extend beyond the norm of two adults and two children. In order to
further create value, providers should facilitate the process of bonding by
bringing parents and children closer together to share experiences, whether
that is music or hobbies. Indeed, as the 'experience economy' grows, family
cultural visits are on the rise (Mintel, 2009); in particular, we are noticing
an increase in parents and children attending pop concerts together as
different generations become more likely to share similar values and tastes
(for example, the Glastonbury festival is increasingly popular with families).
According to Mintel (2009) the 'family life-stage' penetration of concerts
and festivals increased from 25% to 48% in the decade up to 2009. This
trend of vertical families doing things together has seen attractions such as
Alton Towers (http://www.altontowers.co.uk) and Warwick Castle (http://
www.warwick-castle.com) promote themselves as 'true family resorts',
with attractions from '3 to 83'. The latter offers an edutainment-based
