Results from a recent Virtuoso survey of 772 travel advisors show a strong trend towards mother-daughter and father-son getaways, reflecting greater demand for experiences and signalling “an important time for bespoke travel agents as they move from selling packages towards listening to (clients)”.
Travel advisors say they are being asked to curate experiences, often a holiday that incorporates the particular interests of all family members rather than the traditional fly-and-flop holiday, shared Virtuoso’s Asia-Pacific managing director, Michael Londregan.
“As a society we are moving out of the commodity economy of more ‘stuff’ into an experiential one where our desire for experiences out-rates the things we might buy,” Londregan opined.
“This is being reflected in the decisions we make about what we do together. When we ask ‘what can we give mum or dad as a gift?’, we are thinking less about a new ‘thing’ and more about personal experiences such as a weekend escape or a pampering experience.”
The survey also revealed that the top five destinations for Australian families are Fiji, the US, Singapore, Italy and Hawaii.
