The Family Travel Association, NYU SPS Tisch Center of Hospitality, and Good Housekeeping Partner to Deliver the 10th Anniversary Edition of One of the Most Popular Surveys on Family Travel Trends
On October 20, 2025, the Family Travel Association (FTA), the NYU School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, and Good Housekeeping released findings from their 2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey on current family travel trends.
This 10th Anniversary edition of the survey polled nearly 1,600 parents and grandparents from Good Housekeeping’s consumer database about their travel plans, behaviors, and attitudes, kids’ engagement and influence on family travel planning, and the use of social media and Gen AI. It also highlights a number of other travel trends in the family travel industry.
The results show that the family travel market will continue its robust growth, with 92% of parents saying they are likely to travel with their children in the next year, the highest level of intent for family travel since the pandemic. In terms of spending, 81% of families are planning to either increase or maintain their level of travel spending for domestic travel. In 2024, the average family spent approximately $8,052 on travel, representing about a 20% increase from the previous year. Despite these strong spending forecasts, affordability remains a challenge to family travel, as reported by 73% of parent respondents.
Survey Highlights
- High Intent to Travel: Travel plans remain very strong, with 92% of parents indicating they are likely or very likely to travel with their children within the next 12 months.
- Top Trip Types: The most popular planned family trips are beach vacations (62%), visiting family and friends (61%), and theme or water parks (45%).
- Strong Spending Outlook: A majority of parents plan to either increase (39%) or maintain (42%) their spending on domestic travel, with the average family having spent approximately $8,052 on travel in 2024.
- Travel Advisor Potential: While only 19% of parents have used a travel advisor recently, a significant 61% said they would consider using one within the next two years, primarily seeking exclusive benefits (47%) and peace of mind/security (45%).
- Affordability is the Top Challenge: 73% of parents cite affordability as their biggest obstacle, leading families to adopt money-saving strategies, such as booking lodging with a kitchen (50%) and limiting paid attractions (46%).
- Demand for Group Travel is High: Multi-generational trips (three or more generations) are a major trend, with 71% of grandparents having taken one recently and 57% of grandparents planning one in the future.
- Special Needs Travel Market: Families with special needs children travel more frequently and spend more than average. Over 13% of families reported having children with special needs, and they gave the industry a low grade of C- on inclusivity, citing major challenges in safety, staff training, and accessibility (50%).
- Technology Use in Planning: Parents primarily use digital tools to find good deals (55%) and manage their budget (47%), utilizing travel websites (52%) and social media (45%) for research, though concern over online security is noted (48%).
- “Kidfluence” is Significant: Children, particularly those aged 7-18, are “co-pilots” in planning, with 74% of parents saying their kids love to travel; parents believe this involvement makes children more adaptable (84%).
- Industry Pain Points: Despite grading the travel industry a B+, families want improvements on issues like the added cost and challenge of being seated together on flights, the scarcity of family/connected hotel rooms, and the need for more transparent pricing.
The 2025 US Family Travel Survey represents responses from 1,596 parents and grandparents in the U.S. and was conducted in the Summer of 2025 by the Family Travel Association (FTA) and the NYU SPS Tisch Center of Hospitality. The study was conducted in partnership with Good Housekeeping, which distributed the survey electronically to its consumer databases.
Additional support was provided by KHM Travel Group. This year’s edition of this ongoing survey included a larger percentage of respondents in higher income brackets with more advanced educational backgrounds than in some prior editions.
For more information about the survey, please contact the Family Travel Association at info@familytravel.