Travel Trends: Family-friendly Accommodation Searches Surge Alongside Flight Demand

Photo source: Booking.com

Summer holiday preparations are in full swing as family searches for accommodations surged by 8 percent compared to 2023, accompanied by a notable 21 percent increase in flight searches, as reported by online platform Booking.com.

According to the platform’s Travel Trends 2024 research, 50 percent of families are seeking budget-friendly destinations, prioritizing superb beaches, tasty local cuisine, and enriching cultural experiences.

“These figures underscore a strong interest in travel this summer as families look to make the most of the warmer months ahead,” the report says.

Main motivators for traveling this year

Photo source: Booking.com

The data provided by Booking showed that 62 percent of families rank spending quality time as the main motivator for traveling this year. Additionally, finding the time to properly relax (58 percent), and discovering new places (48 percent), were other defining factors.

Meanwhile, the top global trending summer destinations for families were found to be Durres, Albania; Tangier, Morocco; Marrakech, Morocco; Destin, Florida, USA; Sevilla, Spain; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Tokyo, Japan; Gramado, Brazil; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Madrid, Spain.

European kids will be the jet-setters this summer

In terms of flight searches, Booking.com revealed that kids living in Europe will be the “jet setters” this summer, with 42 percent of European families including at least one child.

“Kids living in Europe are expected to be the most well-traveled this summer,” the report says, “followed by kids living in Asia and North America at 33 percent and 32 percent, respectively.”

Some nationalities, however, are emerging as “true leaders in family travel this summer”. Among the top 5 countries with the highest percentage of children in flight searches are Egypt, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and Cyprus.

Source: Booking.com

In addition, the data also revealed that the most popular countries for families coming from different continents are: UAE, Australia, Egypt, Turkey, Netherlands, Canada, China, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium.

Photo source: Booking.com

It should be noted that 48 percent of families are adopting the use of AI tools as part of their travel planning in 2024. Moreover, travel nannies are arising as a new trend with 31 percent of families saying they would likely allocate travel budget to having someone care for their child or children on a trip.

The Travel Trends 2024 research was commissioned by Booking.com among a sample of 32.300 adults across 32 countries worldwide who took a leisure trip with an overnight stay in the last 12 months, plan to travel in 2024, and are involved in trip planning.