You probably don’t need me or this survey to tell you that the COVID-19

global pandemic had a major impact on the travel industry during most of

2020 and 2021. In fact, the lingering eects of border closures, mask

while the virus was wreaking havoc all around the world was somewhat

happening one month proved at times to be almost completely irrelevant the next. With so

much fluctuation, how could we produce any meaningful and lasting research that would help

our members better plan how to serve traveling families?

But throughout all this, our members, the industry, and the travelers we serve hunkered down

and stayed patient, and now that vaccines are widely available and travel restrictions have

started to lift, it’s safe to say the travel industry’s recovery is finally underway.

That’s why I’m so excited to announce that with this report, the FTA is back on track in

producing this important annual industry survey—for the sixth time since 2015. Even though

each of our previous studies have helped us discover emerging trends, we would also drill

down more deeply into an area that our industry wanted to know more about. Whether

large better plan and prepare for the new travel landscape we find ourselves in.

What has not changed this or any other year, is our ongoing partnership with New York

University’s School of Professional Studies and Dr. Lynn Minnaert, Clinical Associate

Professor at the Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. Our collective goal has always been

to learn more about American families, their travel habits and attitudes, and we feel this

study is arguably the most comprehensive. We so appreciate Lynn’s continued leadership

in this endeavor.

This year, we also want to thank Macaroni Kid by CertifiKid, for helping us capture the most

broad and diverse group of survey respondents possible. Finally, we want to thank Celebrity

better understand this market also is one of our top priorities.

Best regards,

Rainer Jenss

Founder

Family Travel Association

In this sixth edition of the US Family Travel Survey, the Family Travel

Association (FTA) and the NYU School of Professional Studies Jonathan

M. Tisch Center of Hospitality examine family travel in the United States.

sponsor Celebrity Cruises and media sponsor MacaroniKid, 2,365

responses were collected between June 14 and July 26, 2021. The

following themes are featured in the 2021 US Family Travel Survey:

Travel Demand is Strong After a Steep Decline in 2020

This means that travel demand from US families in 2021 is at the same level as it was in

cancelled or postponed domestic travel arrangement, and 23% cancelled or postponed

international travel arrangements.

While Domestic Demand Rebounds, International Demand is Weaker

• Respondents reported a median family travel spending of around $2,500 in 2019. We

asked whether they intended to spend more on less on family travel in the next 12

months, for domestic and international travel. 44% expect they will spend more on

domestic travel, whereas 43% expects to spend around the same amount. Only 13% of

respondents expect to spend less on domestic travel.

• The situation is however very dierent for international family travel: only 22% of

respondents expect to spend more on international trips, 36% expect their spending to

multi-day international vacation. Families with higher annual household incomes are more

likely to plan international vacations.

• In terms of the types of trips respondents are planning to take, visiting family and friends

(62%) and beach vacations (61%) are the top two choices. Theme/water parks and state/

national parks are the following two choices, with 51% and 46% of respondents planning

to take these kinds of trips respectively. These preferences are in line with pre-pandemic

family travel behaviors we have reported in previous studies.

• Some trip types however are less popular with families now than before the pandemic. In

our 2019 survey, 68% of respondents reported they planned to visit a museum or cultural

attraction: that percentage has decreased to 36%. Events have decreased from 51-60% in

2019 to 23%. Cruises also decreased from 36% to 10%.

top three is similar to what this survey has previously found, however it is noticeable that

vacation rentals have steadily increased in popularity since the inception of this survey.

• A change induced by the pandemic is that families report they pay more attention to

cancellation policies (56%) and to health and safety considerations when choosing travel

destinations (55%). 80% of respondents either agree or agree strongly that they will only

book travel with companies that have flexible cancellation policies in place.

Travel Agents May Get Boost From Pandemic Travel Chaos

• 17% of respondents have booked travel with a travel adviser during the past two years.

However, a much larger share of 65% of respondents say they would consider using

a travel adviser for their family travel needs in the next two years. The respondents

who indicated that they would consider using a travel adviser, were asked whether the

Health Protocols and Vaccine Passports Divide Respondents

vaccinated. Children in particular are likely to be unvaccinated. At this time, children

that none of the children have been vaccinated.

companies receive a B-, and cruise companies receive a C+.

In our sample, 16% of respondents report that all family members are vaccinated, 67% that

some family members are vaccinated and 17% that nobody in the family is vaccinated.

Table 6: What is the vaccination status of your family?

Respondents who report that nobody in the family has been vaccinated are more likely

to report a lower household income and level of education than respondents in the

other two groups.

of the children have been vaccinated, 61% say they plan to have the children vaccinated, and

The respondents who indicated that nobody in the family is vaccinated (17% of total sample)

were asked whether they and their families plan to get vaccinated. 73% of respondents in this

group say nobody in the family plans to get vaccinated, 19% say that some family members

plan to get vaccinated, and 2% say that they and their family will get vaccinated.

In the following question, we asked to which extent and how the pandemic had aected the

respondents’ attitudes towards future family travel. The two top responses are that families

COVID-19 has been contained. 15% of respondents say they will be less likely to consider

international travel even after COVID-19 has been contained. Respondents who indicate that

their family is fully or partially vaccinated are more likely to report these lasting concerns than

respondents with families where nobody has been vaccinated.

Table 7: Which of the following statements about future family travel apply to you? Please

select all that apply.

In this section of the survey, we probed what our respondents’ family travel plans were for the

coming year. In the first question in this block, we asked about trips of dierent lengths, from

day trips to multi-day vacations. Multi-day vacations in the US are the most common trip type

the respondents plan to take (83%). Weekend getaways come in second (68%), followed by

day trips (57%). Multi-day international vacations are planned by 19% of respondents. Families

with higher annual household incomes are more likely to plan international vacations.

When asked how long respondents were willing to drive for a weekend getaway, 47% of

respondents say they will drive between 2 and 4 hours. 27% of respondents is willing to drive

between 4 and 6 hours.

In terms of the types of trips respondents are planning to take, visiting family and friends

(62%) and beach vacations (61%) are the top two choices. Theme/water parks and state/

national parks are the following two choices, with 51% and 46% of respondents planning to

take these kinds of trips respectively. These preferences are in line with pre-pandemic family

travel behaviors we have reported in previous studies.

unvaccinated families plan to visit theme and water parks in the coming 12 months (making it

their joint top choice with beach vacations), compared to 59% of partially vaccinated families

and 50% of fully vaccinated families.

Table 9: Which of the following types of trips are you planning to take with your children in

the coming year? Please select all that apply.

Table 11: When are you planning to take a family vacation in 2021 and 2022? Please select

all that apply.

Table 14: Do you plan to stay in each of the following types of accommodations on a family

vacation in the coming 12 months? Please select all that apply.

17% of respondents have used a travel adviser to book at least one family trip in the past two

years, 83% of respondents have not. Families with a household income higher than $100,000

per year are slightly more likely to have used a travel adviser (20%) than families in lower

income brackets.

For the respondents who have used a travel adviser for family travel in the past two years,

the biggest motivations were the expertise travel advisers have about certain destinations

or vacation types (48%) and their access to better rates and prices (43%). The pandemic

family vacation in the past 2 years? Please select all that apply.

Of the respondents who have not used a travel adviser for family travel in the past two years,

56% say that they can find all the information they need online, and 44% report that they

enjoy researching and planning family vacations themselves.

Table 17: Why did you decide not to use a travel adviser/agent in planning/booking your

family vacations in the past 2 years? Please select all that apply.

that they would consider using a travel adviser were asked whether the pandemic had

aected their answer: 31% said it had, and that they are more likely to consider using a travel

adviser after the disruptions caused by COVID.

In this section of the survey, respondents were first presented with a question about the value

they place on family vacations, especially since the pandemic heavily limited family travel in

2020. The question also probed whether families were planning to make up for lost travel time

by either traveling more or spending more on travel.

The table below show that US families place great value on the educational importance of

family travel (4.6/5), and that they agree with the statement that having to forego travel

during the pandemic has made them realize how valuable family vacations are (4.1/5).

However, the respondents were more ambivalent on the following two prompts. While 41% of

respondents agreed or agreed strongly that they saved up money during the pandemic that

they intend to use on travel, the mean response for this statement was 3.1/5. While 32% of

respondents say they plan to take more or longer trips to make up for canceled travel plans,

the mean response for this statement was 3.0/5

.

Table 18: How much do you agree with each of the following statements about family travel?

serves. The state-of-the-art facilities oer students, start-ups, established industry partners,

and investors opportunities to learn, discover, innovate, and invest.

For more information about the NYUSPS Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, visit

sps.nyu.edu/tisch.

The Family Travel Association was founded in 2014 to create a single and collective voice on

behalf of the travel industry and those companies that serve traveling families. As a coalition

of the leading family travel suppliers, resources, and experts, its mission is to inspire families

to travel—and travel more—while advocating travel be an essential part of every child’s

education. For additional information on the Family Travel Association, visit familytravel.org.