Adventure trips top children's holiday wish lists
Adventure trips top children's holiday wish lists
A survey of more than 3000 children, parents and grandparents has revealed that adventure and shared experiences are top of the bucket list when it comes to family holidays.
Attraction Tickets Direct commissioned the research to learn more about what makes the perfect family trip, who is in charge of the planning and what the most popular activities are during time away.
The study highlighted the surprising fact that kids want to spend most of their time outdoors, not in front of a television, computer or tablet. Children rated activities such as swimming (58%), riding a rollercoaster (55%) and swimming with dolphins (44%) as the things they would most like to do.
And it isn’t only children who are in pursuit of adventure on their break from everyday life. The research demonstrates how parents and grandparents also voted for action packed holidays, giving them the opportunity to act like big kids and escape from reality. Amongst the top places parents and grandparents would like to go are theme parks (43%, 36%), water parks (36%, 24%) and on safari (28%, 26%).
When asked what they like the most about their holiday, surprisingly nearly two-thirds of children (62%) said it was spending time with their family, showing that the younger generation value the shared experiences just as much as the parents do.
Tech savvy kids get their inspiration online through social media (29%) and TV (50%) and the pester power is effective as when asked who plans the family getaway, almost half of parents (47.5%) said that it's done all together as a family.
59% of parents admitted that when on holiday, more than 70% of their time is spent doing an activity to make their children happy; although that did depend on who was asked - with 65% of mums vs 45% of dads thinking that children dictated the holiday agenda.
Oliver Brendon, CEO of Attraction Tickets Direct said: "We conducted this research to learn more about what families look for in a holiday and what’s important to each generation. The results have been pleasantly surprising, showing that it's spending time together as a family that they all want, doing exciting activities and being outdoors.
"It's the experiences you have on a holiday that make the memories, and it's encouraging to see that children appreciate these experiences as much as parents enjoy providing them. Whether it's seeing Cinderella's Castle for the first time, braving a huge roller coaster, seeing a sunset from Mt. Teide or climbing to the top of the Empire State Building - the opportunity to see and do these things as a family is what makes people happy."
Some of the quirkier facts to come out of the research were:
- 10% of dads would like to visit the moon or space for their next trip
- The majority of children (28%) guessed that their annual family break would cost £250 or less
- Other activities on children's wishlists are to meet batman and see a mermaid
For more information visit www.attractiontickets.com/en
-ENDS-
For media information contact Kate Bates, head of PR, on 0203 195 6840 or
Editor’s notes
The research for Attraction Tickets Direct was carried out online by Opinion Matters between 01/02/2018 and 09/02/2018 amongst three panels. First panel was 1000 children aged 5-12 years old. Second was 1000 Parents of children aged 5-12 years old. Third was 1000 Grandparents. All research conducted adheres to the MRS Codes of Conduct (2010) in the UK and ICC/ESOMAR World Research Guidelines. Opinion Matters is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office and is fully compliant with the Data Protection Act (1998).
About Attraction Tickets Direct:
Attraction Tickets Direct is one of the world’s largest attraction ticket brokers serving more than 400,000 customers each year from four source markets - the UK, Ireland, Germany and Brazil. The company was founded in 2002 and by 2006 became the first company ever to sell '1 million visits' to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in a single year – something that has been achieved every year since.
In September 2017, Attraction Tickets Direct expanded to offer the cheapest Disney hotel, dining and ticket packages in the UK. At the same time, joining ABTA to provide customers with financial security and peace of mind.
The multi award-winning company aims to Add Happiness® to holidays by making it easier, cheaper and faster to buy tickets and holidays to the world's leading attractions. www.attractiontickets.com/en
