TripAdvisor Survey Reveals Rise in Family Travel in 2011

83 Percent of U.S. Respondents Planning Family Trips this Year, Up Four Percent from 2010

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Mar 03, 2011, 06:00 ET

NEWTON, Mass., March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced the results of its annual family travel survey of more than 1,600 U.S. travelers. Eighty-three percent of respondents plan to take at least one vacation with family members this year, up from 79 percent who did so in 2010.

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Family Spend Trends

39 percent of respondents with children expect to spend more on family trips in 2011, compared to last year – while a further 36 percent plan to spend the same amount.
Plan to spend:

$1,000 - $3,000	24%
$3,000 - $5,000	22%
$5,000 - $8,000	19%
$8,000 or more	18%

26 percent of parents with children in school plan to take a vacation when school is in session, in order to save money on a trip this year.

Treating the Kids

Forty-three percent of travelers with children admit they would "often" prefer to take vacations without their offspring. Nonetheless, many are happy to pay for their kids to partake in the family fun.

67 percent maintain that children are never too old to treat to a family trip.
21 percent believe it's appropriate to stop footing the travel bill when kids graduate from college.

Top Destinations for Relations

58 percent of travelers with children plan to take domestic-only family trips in 2011, while 32 percent plan to travel both within the U.S. and internationally, and a further 10 percent will take international-only trips.

The top five types of family trips in 2011, according to the survey:

Beach destination - 57%
City trip - 39%
Amusement park / theme park - 23%
Cultural trip - 21%
Camping / outdoors trip - 17%

Child-Free Zones

From adults-only airplane seating, to child-free dining options, many travelers would happily pay a premium to enjoy some kid-free kicks on vacation.

31 percent would shell out for a seat in a child-free section of an airplane.
28 percent for a lounger by an adults-only section of the pool.
28 percent for a table in a kid-free section of a restaurant.
27 percent for a room in a child-free section of a hotel or resort.
22 percent for a spot on a "no kids" section of the beach.
7 percent for a seat in a child-free section of an airport.

Further Family Survey Findings

37 percent of respondents plan to take a multi-generational family trip this year.
The biggest challenge of taking a family vacation is finding activities that the whole family likes, according to 21 percent of respondents – more challenging than the travel itself (19 percent), or staying on budget (12 percent).
29 percent plan to travel for a major family event this year, such as a reunion or wedding.

"Travelers may not be able to pick their families, but they can certainly choose whether or not to plan trips with them – and Americans intend to do so in their droves this year," said Karen Drake, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor. "Family vacations are no longer the preserve of young kids and their parents, but a time for relations of all ages to come together for quality time."

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with seamless links to booking tools.

TripAdvisor® Media Group, operated by TripAdvisor LLC, attracts more than 50 million unique monthly visitors* across 18 popular travel brands**. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 40 million unique monthly visitors***, 20 million members, and over 45 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 28 countries worldwide****, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also operates TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors. The division includes Business Listings, which allows hoteliers to connect directly to millions of researching travelers, and Vacation Rentals, which helps property managers and individual home owners list their properties and showcase hotel alternatives.

TripAdvisor Media Group websites have been recognized as top travel resources in 2010 by Condé Nast Traveller, Good Housekeeping, TIME magazine and Travel + Leisure.

TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Group are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE).

TripAdvisor and the TripAdvisor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Media Group Sites, Worldwide, August 2010

** In addition to TripAdvisor, The TripAdvisor Media Group of websites includes: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com and www.kuxun.cn.