Does taking three generations of travelers on a tour together sound like a blast — or sound like a headache?
Without guidance, multigenerational travel can be tricky. Having multiple age groups in one tour presents obstacles and challenges you may not immediately know how to navigate. Activity-level capabilities and interests can vary greatly in a single age bracket, let alone across multiple generations. So, how do you ensure everyone is happy across multiple age groups?
You do so by providing a tour that allows people to branch off and pursue their interests at their speed. Parents of young children may not be able to do as much as parents with teens, and grandparents may not share the same interests as the rest of the family. To plan a successful multigenerational tour, you must focus on offering a variety of energy and activity levels, as well as a tour that appeals to a diverse range of interests.
If you’re interested in planning a tour that appeals to multiple generations, consider the following tips and ideas.
Land or Sea?
Let’s say you have grandparents who would like to take their kids and grandchildren on a tour. Grandma and Grandpa might have different ideas of fun than their grandchildren, and you want everyone to have a good time while also spending quality time together. That way, they are more likely to take more group trips in the future.
One appealing option may be cruising. On a cruise, you can offer a wide variety of excursions. Your kids can hop on a zip-lining tour or other adventurous outing, while Grandpa learns the history of the town where the ship docked. Later, everyone can meet up for dinner and share their memories. They can also see a show together or participate in another activity. Most cruise lines provide a variety of activities onboard, appealing to a range of interests and offering something that everyone can enjoy. Many cruise lines even have kids clubs that give younger children, as well as young adults, a space tailored to their interests.
If you are set on a land tour, you will need a tour that offers free time throughout so that everyone can fit in the things they would like to do. Free time is key to making multigenerational groups happy. When visiting a town or city, consider offering shorter sightseeing tours and allowing travelers more free time to explore independently. You should also consider offering fewer included meals on land tours so families can find restaurants that cater to the tastes of everyone in their party.
Pick Your Pace
Appealing to different travel paces is also essential with multigenerational tours. Depending on where someone is in life, they might be looking for a fast-paced adventure or a slow, relaxing trip. But creating a tour that offers different speeds and activity levels is difficult. With most motorcoach tours, you have one speed, unless you offer free time in each city you visit.
Hub-and-spoke tours on land can be a great way to offer an itinerary with ample free time. I once offered a multigenerational international trip to London, Paris and Rome. The tour spent three days in each city, with the first day including a sightseeing tour and the other days offering free time. I provided some suggestions, but most of the families decided to go off on their own or chose to book day trips with local guides based on their interests.
A lot of group travel planners don’t think to do this. They’re in the habit of building detailed itineraries with limited freedom. They do that because bus tours provide a lot of information to people in a short amount of time. Remember, when planning a tour with multiple generations, you must include more free time to ensure those younger travelers enjoy themselves enough to sign up for more trips with you in the future.
Think Creatively
Remember to think outside the box with multigenerational travel. Offer tours with a variety of activity levels and free time or with a range of excursions. We don’t want families to spend their entire trip apart, but we do want to offer variety that appeals to them all.
Most travel planners don’t run multigenerational trips very often; however, it might be worth increasing their frequency in your travel program. Offering tours that allow clients to travel with their families — and have fun in the process — will expand your customer base and grow your business.
