Top Tips for Attracting Family Travelers

Kayla Atwater

For the past decade, I’ve worked to create impactful and engaging PR campaigns that drive media attention to travel and tourism brands. Recently, as a new mom to a globetrotter-in-training, I’ve become more acutely aware of the nuances of the family travel market than I’ve ever been before. The complexities and growth of this market are remarkable, requiring a deep understanding of family dynamics and motivators. In fact, the market is booming. A February travel advisor survey by Travel Weekly found that 90 percent of advisors selected family travel as one of their top five specializations and 63 percent said family travel was their first or second focus, underscoring the increasing importance of catering to this demographic.

From multigenerational trips to skip-gen vacations to one-parent adventures, the family travel landscape is evolving at lightning speed, and today’s travelers are placing an extraordinary emphasis on personalized, enriching experiences. As PR professionals, this fresh dynamic in family travel presents unique opportunities to help our clients reach this vital target audience and stay ahead of trends, demonstrating their genuine commitment to the market.

At Hemsworth, we’ve identified a few strategies to help travel brands stand out in the crowded family travel media landscape while appealing to the hearts, minds and wallets of families planning their next memory-making getaway:

Nail your key messaging

When crafting key messaging for family travelers, it’s important to hit on the elements that matter most to them. Families prioritize aspects like personal space, convenience, value and amenities. To resonate even more, help moms—oftentimes the primary decision makers in travel planning—envision how seamlessly they can maintain their “normal” routine while on vacation. Even something as simple as highlighting an in-room mini fridge for a new mom can be a deciding factor!

How to take this further? A mom with young children would jump for joy to read on a property’s website, “Start your day with ease in our family-friendly suites. Enjoy a mini fridge stocked with essentials like milk and juice, a bathtub to help your little one feel at home, and separate living/sleeping areas to ensure a good night’s sleep for everyone. Plus, our complimentary Pack ’n Plays and baby-care packages, complete with bottle warmers and baby bath amenities, lighten your packing load. If you’re in need of a quick snack or meal, our 24/7 room service has you covered with healthy and kid-friendly options.”

As PR professionals, we help our clients carefully craft their messaging to differentiate themselves from the competition, ensuring that families feel acknowledged and appreciated.

Hilton Cabana Miami Beach Resort, a Hemsworth client.

Introduce packages and amenities

Families are looking for more than just basic accommodations. Creative packages that offer a one-stop-shop experience can not only grab the attention of families but showcase how they can create lasting memories that make a trip worthwhile.

In response to the growing popularity of skip-gen vacations, we recently worked with our client, Embassy Suites by Hilton Deerfield Beach Resort & Spa, to craft a Suite Generations package that offers grandparents and grandchildren unique bonding opportunities. The package includes an “essentials kit” to ensure families are equipped with everything they need, including sunscreen, baby wipes, a first aid kit, snacks and bottled water, along with engaging activities like board games and a seashell painting craft kit. From a PR perspective, tailored packages like these offer excellent media coverage potential.

Beyond packages, thoughtful touches and appealing amenities can help brands stand out for memorable family travel experiences, as well as attract media for unique story opportunities. Offering family-friendly dining options, like elevated kids’ menus with nutritious and diverse options, is of growing interest (say goodbye to chicken nuggets and French fries!). Even the youngest foodies should get a taste of the local cuisine. Additionally, providing distinctive activities and entertainment that reflect the destination’s culture, such as pottery making in Mexico and hands-on gelato making in Italy, helps attract family travelers who view vacations as learning opportunities for their children. Simpler ideas can also make a big difference: imagine being able to borrow complimentary beach toys at the front desk, and not having to pack your own as a parent.

Use visuals to create family FOMO

It’s a no-brainer that marketing photography should include images of children if families are a primary target audience. However, I’ve come to notice that photos often focus on elementary-aged children, leaving a gap for brands to showcase a diverse range of ages—from babies to toddlers to teenagers, as well as multigenerational travelers—to appeal to families at all stages of life. When families see themselves represented in marketing materials, it creates an emotional connection that can significantly influence their decision-making process.

In particular, content creators and influencers can be valuable in enhancing a brand’s visual storytelling efforts. PR professionals can secure rights to use photos from their trips for marketing purposes, providing authentic visuals for potential guests. Well-vetted influencers have a knack for capturing genuine moments that resonate deeply with their followers. This not only enhances the appeal of the destination or property but also makes the brand more relatable as families see a real-life representation of the incredible travel experiences that they crave. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” This adage holds especially true in the PR world.

Leverage thought leadership opportunities

Travel executives, especially those who are parents themselves, play a crucial role as trusted voices and resources for family travelers. Drawing from their personal experiences, they offer unique insights and expertise on various aspects of family travel.

A few types of thought leadership initiatives that we handle for our clients include arranging media interviews, securing panels at industry conferences, and contributing op-ed articles on family travel-related subjects to industry publications. By sharing our clients’ commentary on hot topics like secrets to a successful flight, tips for a stress-free family vacation, how to create a teen-friendly travel itinerary and hotel hacks for traveling with a baby, we can leverage their industry experience and understanding of the market trends, as well as build credibility and trust among potential guests.

Build relationships with journalists and influencers who travel with families

Another key strategy for securing media coverage in the family travel market is organizing FAM trips for journalists to experience the important facets of destinations and properties firsthand. This is the best way for media to be able to wholeheartedly tell a brand’s story and produce more thorough features. Media are understandably reluctant to write about places they haven’t personally visited, making this crucial for opening doors to opportunities.

When planning FAM trips focused on family travel, one important thing to consider is extending the invitation for media to bring their children as their guest. In group FAM settings, which often have limitations on participant numbers, this presents a chance to get creative and tap into emerging trends like one-parent adventures or “solo trips” where parents travel with one child at a time. Creative FAM themes that proactively offer unique story ideas can further enhance the appeal of media accepting the invitation. As overwhelming as the planning and hosting of FAM trips may be to our clients, it runs in the veins of professionals who are type-A planners, so we enjoy taking those logistical aspects off their plates and being there in person with the media, ensuring they feel safe and secure with their children in tow too.

The family travel market is a dynamic and ever-growing segment. By thoughtfully crafting key messaging, offering creative packages, using diverse visuals, leveraging thought leadership and working with family-oriented media, travel brands can effectively attract family travelers and shine bright in the crowded travel market. As PR professionals, we have the expertise to guide our clients through this process, ensuring they resonate with family travelers and stay ahead of the curve.

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Kayla Atwater is Associate Vice President of Hemsworth: Travel & Tourism.