Family Travel Association Launches National Campaign

Urging Parents to #TakeFamilyTime

More than half of parents don't use all of their paid time off

New York – January 27, 2020 –The Family Travel Association (FTA) is launching a national advocacy campaign, #TakeFamilyTime, to encourage parents to take all of their earned vacation days, and invest as much of that time as possible traveling with their kids.

The FTA is asking parents to take the FTA's #TakeFamilyTime pledge at the FTA Website, where they also can receive expert advice about the various challenges families face, and subscribe to a free monthly FTA Take Family Time newsletter.

By signing up to take the pledge, families will be eligible for a free, 4-night stay for 4 guests at one of three FTA member Arizona dude ranches, including lodging, meals and activities. They also will receive reminders for live discussions at the FTA Facebook page, where the organization will interview FTA members and other experts about a variety of topics to help families plan their travels.

According to the 2019 FTA/NYU Family Travel Survey, 55% of parents with paid time off, and children under 18 in their household, don't take all of their paid vacation days. Some 17% of the 1,580 parents responding to the annual survey said they took less than half of their paid vacation days.

In the five years, the survey has been conducted by the FTA and New York University's Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, the share of parents taking all of their time off has always been less than 50%. (The 2019 Family Travel Survey was conducted in June 2019, and supported by G Adventures, Travel + Leisure, and Parents magazine.)

Meanwhile, the share of parents planning to travel with their children has declined for three consecutive years. In 2017, 88% of parents were “very likely” or “likely” to travel with their children, dropping to 79% in 2018 and 70% in 2019.

“Being a modern family is hard on vacation planning, and our research indicates the challenges families face are only getting more difficult,” said FTA Founder and President Rainer Jenss. “We consider this a wake-up call for the family travel industry.”

According to the FTA/NYU Family Travel Survey, the largest obstacles to taking vacations are:

• Affordability, 32%
• Other demands on the family budget, 26%
• Difficulty taking time off work, 13%
• Think their children are too young, 12%
• The hassle of air travel, 11%

#TakeFamilyTime campaign details

The FTA will leverage the expertise of its members to generate a broader awareness of the problem and activate solutions that will inspire and motivate parents.  For example, the Take Family Time newsletter will feature articles from FTA members, offering advice, tips, and discounts/incentives to make travel more affordable.

The FTA's first Facebook Live #TakeFamilyTime discussion will be Tuesday night, January 28, National Plan a Vacation Day, @ 8 p.m. Eastern, and will feature two of the FTA's Certified Travel Specialist members, discussing how families can better plan vacations. Parents and others interested in family vacation planning can join the discussion. The Facebook live events will be hosted every other Tuesday night, at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The Family Travel Association is a coalition of more than 370 travel agents, travel industry suppliers, tourism bureaus and destination management companies.