Fewer than 1 in 5 Families Book with a Travel Advisor

Families are motivated to travel, and are spending more to do it—but travel advisor usage rates are low, despite a largely positive perception of the role. These are just some of the findings from a new survey, published this week by the Family Travel Association (FTA).

The “2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey” was produced by the FTA, the NYU School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, and Good Housekeeping. The 10th edition of the annual study, nearly 1,600 grandparents and parents participated in this year’s survey, shedding insight on current family travel trends—including how they plan, spending behaviors, and even the use of generative A.I. technology.

The resulting report presents its findings split between two distinct populations: parents and grandparents, allowing the survey to better capture trends unique to each demographic.

Overall, families are reporting low usage rates for travel advisors. The survey found that only 19% of parents and 18% of grandparents have used a travel advisor to book at least one family trip in the last three years.

When asked for reasons why respondents have or would consider using a travel advisor for family trips, about one-third (33%) of parents said travel advisors have access to the most current technologies and tools for travel planning, and just 29% said advisors have in-depth knowledge about family and multi-generational travel.

Slightly more than 3 in 5 parents (61%) said they are willing to use a travel advisor for their family travel needs in the next two years, which is down 10% from 2023’s report (71%).

“While we don’t know the precise reasons for the decline in willingness to use a travel advisor, we can hypothesize causes,” Peter Bopp, head of research for FTA, told TMR.

Bopp believes the decline in willingness to use a travel advisor could be related to fewer concerns about travel disruption. “[In 2023] memories of the disruptions to travel caused by the pandemic were still fresh in many families’ minds,” he explained.

“We certainly saw an increase in willingness to use a travel advisor among families who still worried about travel disruptions… In 2025, memories of pandemic disruptions have faded, and families are looking to advisors for better access, special deals, and destination knowledge.”

The FTA survey did not ask respondents why they chose not to work with a travel advisor when booking family travel, although Bopp told TMR it has in the past.

“I’d hypothesize that education and communication of how travel advisors can help families, how to find and engage with one, and how advisors are compensated (ie what they charge) are steps that could build engagement with more families,” he said.

Travel Intent Is High Among Parents, but Affordability Is a Challenge

One of the key findings in this year’s survey is the high intent shared by parents to travel.

The survey found 92% of parents are likely or very likely to travel with their children within the next 12 months. Although this is slightly lower than in 2015 and 2016, when 93% of parents were likely or very likely to travel in the next year, it’s a significant increase from pre-pandemic travel intent, which was just 79% in 2018 and 70% in 2019.

Domestic travel remains popular while international travel is on the decline: 83% of parents said they planned to take their family on multi-day U.S. trips versus just 30% planning for multi-day international travel (and 13% multi-week international travel). In 2023, almost half (46%) of respondents said they were planning multi-day international family trips, further evidence that U.S. travelers are choosing to stay closer to home.

On the grandparent side, 71% said they have taken a multi-generation family trip in the last three years, and 44% said they are likely to take one in the next three years.

Travel spending among parents is up—the average family spent approximately $8,052 on travel in 2024. Perhaps unsurprisingly, affordability was listed as the top obstacle preventing parents from planning family travel.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of respondents said affordability was the most challenging factor considered when planning travel with children, which is a stark increase from 59% in the 2023 survey. Other top challenges in 2025 include timing of school breaks (51%), available vacation time (47%), and finding a destination of activity that everyone will enjoy (40%).

The Rise of ‘Kidfluence’ and Other Inspiration Sources

Another key finding from the FTA’s “2025 U.S. Family Travel Survey” is the increased influence of children in how parents approach vacation planning.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of parents said they involved children (ages 7 to 18) in travel planning to various extents. The top aspect chosen by children was activities/excursions (29%), followed by restaurants/dining (23%), and choosing the destination (15%).

Parents also said they were motivated to involve their children in trip planning to ensure the vacation would include elements the child would genuinely enjoy (77%), and that involving children positively impacts their child’s happiness and engagement during the trip (61%).

Overwhelmingly, parents are relying on search engines for planning and booking travel: 81% said they use platforms like Google or Bing. Interestingly, while review sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor remain influential (77%), booking platforms like Expedia or Kayak are less popular than merchant websites (63% versus 74%).

While some parents reported using artificial intelligence (A.I.) tools to plan and book travel, usage rates are relatively low at 27%, likely because the technology is so new and continues to evolve.