Knowing how families plan trips, when they are looking to travel, and what activities are important to them allows you to better inform your marketing strategy to reach family travelers. ADARA, the world’s travel data co-op, has recently released findings around family travel trends and behaviors.

When compared to solo and couple travelers, families take twice as long to plan their travel. Families take an average of 61 days from first search to departure, compared to 30 days from first search to departure for solo and couple travelers. Families also tend to significantly extend the trip planning process for winter holidays. We see almost 3 months (83 days) from first search to departure for winter family travel. We can infer that these long timelines are due to these travelers searching for the best deals, best amenities or best destination opportunities for their family. Families do not make quick travel decisions—they carefully weigh the options and research thoroughly before booking.

Families tend to focus their travel activity during the summer months. Families have the highest share of the travel market in June, July and August at an average of 17% of total bookings—roughly twice what it is in January and February. From this we can infer that family travelers are significantly impacted by the school schedule and focus on summer as a key vacation period.

Family travelers are 1.4x more likely to be interested in visiting a theme or amusement park while on vacation, when compared to solo and couple travelers. This indicates that kid-friendly activities are a top priority for family travelers.