Now that traveling is back on track after two difficult years, we wanted to know what Little Travel families have on their travel bucket list for 2024. We asked, for example, whether they will go to the beach or hiking, whether they prefer a holiday home or a family hotel. And how much they will be willing to invest in their accommodation and how they plan to  save money on vacation in times of inflation?

 

End of August, we asked 2,028 of our Instagram followers about family trends for 2024 in an Instagram story. We asked our newsletter subscribers and Facebook followers the same questions (151 participants and 89 participants respectively). A total of 2,268 parents took part. Wow!

Before starting to present you the results we can already tell you two things: Bella Italia was mentioned most among all possible travel destinations and our Little Travel families have large families. But read yourself…

What makes Little Travel families special?

We wanted to know: How many kids do families bring with them on vacation on average and how old are they?

How many children travel with Little Travel families?

Little Travel families have more children than the German average.

57% have two children (cf.: on average in Germany, only 27% of households with children under 18 have two children, and in more than half of the families there is only one child under 18). Furthermore, 16% of the families who took place in our survey have 3 or more children (cf.: 8% of families on average in Germany have 3+ children). Therefore: Dear hosts, please plan the outlay of your rooms and offers not just for classic 1-2 kid families. Families with large children also want to spend their vacation at your place.

Families with children of all ages follow us

More than half of the respondents go on vacation with small children (52%). 35% of the Little Travel kids are school children. However, 12% of families also have teenagers in their family. Not only our Little Travel Society, but also our followers´children are getting older. Many of our followers discover us when they are planning their first trip with a baby. However, since the Little Travel Society has been around since the beginning of 2016, some of these babies have probably already grown into teenagers. We will learn from it! We will soon add more information for families with teens to our recommendations.

Family travel destinations for 2024 – Europe is very popular

Our families love our diverse continent. Most families (72% of respondents) will vacation in Europe next year. However, Germany also won’t be as empty as the classrooms during school holidays. Participations of our survey who named Europe as their travel destination will be vacationing in many different countries in Europe. As a single country, Germany will attract 13% of the holiday makers. 16% dare to go on a long-distance trip – after the pandemic, #wanderlust is back again.

Trending European travel destinations for Little Travel Society families in 2024

In 2024 Italy will be the absolute favorite country in this survey with 21%. The German-speaking South Tyrol in northern Italy was most frequently mentioned (4%). Sardinia and Tuscany followed a little behind.

France comes second. Corsica, Southern France and Brittany are the most popular French regions among Little Travel followers.

Not surprisingly, in Spain – third-placed country –  the islands are in the lead: The Balearic Islands with Mallorca and Ibiza are at the top, followed by the Canary Islands with Tenerife and Co. On the mainland, Andalusia was mentioned most often.

Also in Greece, the islands such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes are also most popular.

However, even if mediterranean travel destinations are in the top three places for Little Travel families, a lot of more northern regions are in high demand when planning vacations for 2024.

Germany and Austria follow in fourth and fifth place with a total of 11%.

7% will head up to Scandinavia and 2% to Britain next year.

In Germany, a stiff sea breeze is trend – the North Sea and the Baltic Sea were mentioned most often, especially Sylt. In addition, not only the popular holiday regions in the south of Germany are mentioned – Little Travel families actually like to go on holiday all over Germany. Also in Austria, all states are visited equally.

Which long-distance travel destinations will Little Travel families chose for 2024?

14% of the answers to the open question “Where will you vacation in 2024?” related to long-distance travel destinations. The most popular is by far the US – an easy and safe long-distance travel destination for families – followed by Thailand, South Africa, Mauritius and the Caribbean. Many other countries and regions were also mentioned, such as Costa Rica, Bali, Canada, Australia and other countries in Latin America.

Summer holidays and beyond school holidays (!) are most popular travel times

In Germany there are at least five school holidays every year. Therefore, we wanted to know from our families when they will be going on vacation next year. As expected, the six weeks of summer holidays are the favorite time of the year for a family vacation. But don´t worry – not everyone squeeze into Italian Riviera in August. Due to different school holiday periods in the German federal states, in 2024 there will always be some kid on summer holiday somewhere in Germany from June 20th to September 9th. 15% of Little Travel families prefer not to travel during school holidays when everything is more expensive and more crowded. However, Little Travel families are also out and about during other holiday seasons – Easter, Whitsun and autumn holidays are almost equally popular. With 6% of the answers, winter holidays are only important for real winter fans and especially families who love skiing.

Little Travel families are frequent travelers

More than half of the families surveyed plan to go on vacation at least once next year. More than a third even wants to travel two or three times in 2024. At least 7% are frequent travelers and will even go on vacation 4 times or more often. This is significantly more frequent than in a Statista survey from 2011 which was carried out among German families about traveling.

In 2024, a beach vacation will be at the top of the bucket list for Little Travel families

Beach vacation is by far the number one choice for 2024 for Little Travel families. And we understand why. Children are often real water lovers and can spend hours splashing around and building sandcastles. However, we also have many sporty families among our followers: active vacations (hiking, surfing, bike tours, yoga vacations, etc.) together with skiing vacations sum up to 26% of the answers. Surprisingly, city trips (11%) are even one percentage point ahead of farm holidays. Our Little Travel families know that a well-planned city trip can be a lot of fun with children.

Holiday homes and apartments will be more popular than hotels in 2024

60% of those surveyed said they wanted to stay in a holiday home or an apartment with catering in 2024, while 40% chose a hotel. We suppose that saving money is also a reason during times of inflation can also be a reason for this.

This is how much Little Travel families plan to spend for their accommodation

We wanted to know from our families how much they are willing to spend on a holiday home/a holiday apartment, an apartment with breakfast and a family hotel. The results surprised us a little.

The majority of those surveyed were prepared to dig deep into their pockets for a chic holiday home or holiday apartment: our followers were prepared to invest between €2,000 and €3,000 per week (but: on Instagram most people moved the slider close to €2,000, not €3,000).

Interestingly, the same result was obtained for an apartment with breakfast: €2,000 to €3,000 (on Instagram again with the slider mostly in the lower range of €2,000). Travel families don’t seem to be willing to spend significantly more on the breakfast option.

When it comes to family hotels that already include full board and all sorts of family offers, opinions differ greatly when it comes to spending money. This can also be due to the fact that family hotel offers can differ widely. Exactly a third of our families are willing to spend between €200 and €300 for a night in a family hotel. 24% want to invest less than €200 per night. But almost 40% are willing to spend between €300 and €600. 3% are even of the opinion that €700 and more would be okay for a good offer.

Saving money: going on vacation less often instead of foregoing fun during one´s stay

Current inflation does not make things easy for both hosts and traveling families. That’s why we wanted to know: What’s the preferred way for families to save on vacation? By far the most (30%) of those surveyed, prefer to reduce their number of vacations. Others prefer to save money by choosing a cheaper accommodation or looking for a cheaper travel destination. However, most families don’t want to miss out on the fun while they are on vacation. From given answers, very few people chose the option to save on food or excursions (12% each).

If you would like to click through all the survey charts, you can click on this link.

A hugh “thank you” goes to our followers who took part in this survey. A great, exciting, very diverse group of travel addicts are following us!

Yours Antonia (Foto: Lisa Handke)
Social Media and Content Manager