Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
approach to history (where education and entertainment come together),
with interactive experiences such as jousting tournaments and falconry
alongside guided tours of the castle, and the former appeals to parents as
well as children with a broad mix of rides. Attending live sports events as a
family remains a favourite activity of dads, along with trips to the zoo.
The family tourism market also faces the challenge of responding to
demographic trends, including the rise of single-parent families, which has
created more female-led and part-time working family structures. There has
being an increase in suppliers who provide specialist websites, holidays and
facilities, such as http://www.familienhotel-laurentius.com, where children
are given the opportunity to quickly find friends to play with while parents
have time for some relaxation.
A more educated society means greater awareness of what is happening
in society and a desire for edutainment, hence the importance of culture,
museums and theatres in the future. Indeed, since 2000 there has been a
steady increase in theatre and art attendance, along with an increase in
family life-stage reading. Films and books such as
Harry Potter
have rekindled
children's interest in reading (Mintel, 2009). Tourism businesses need
constantly to innovate as leisure-savvy families are saying 'seen it, done
it'; for example, Thorpe Park (http://www.thorpepark.com) is constantly
introducing new rides. The 'seen it, done it' families are driven by a need to
find value for money against a trend of seeking novelty and the desire for
new experiences (Yeoman, 2008).
Concluding Remarks
Changing family structures and relationships are affected by population
patterns, with implications for family tourism, as shown in Figure 3.9. It is
recognised that:
• As longevity continues to rise, adults are marrying and having children
at later ages. The average age of a mother at childbirth will reach 30.7
years by 2025; meanwhile, the mean age at first marriage stood at
32.2 years for men and 30.05 for women in 2009 (Office for National
Statistics, 2010b).
• Grandparents are playing an ever more active role in family lives but are
increasingly techno-savvy and dismissive of age stereotypes. Research
by the Future Foundation (2011) suggested that nearly a third of those
aged over 65 will be social networkers by 20151 and around a quarter
will be mobile internet users.
• The ethnic market is growing in size and will comprise over 7 million
people by 2020, with these households typically being comparatively
young, large and urban (Office for National Statistics, 2010b).
• Nearly 80% of people now agree that children are financially dependent
on their parents for longer than in previous generations. Furthermore, as
