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An exploration on the trip behavior and attitudes of Multigenerational travelers: What opportunities exist for tourism marketing?

In early 2011, YPartnership and The Preferred Hotel Group surveyed 2,539 active leisure travelers, with 40% reporting having taken at least one Multigenerational trip in the last year.  Multigenerational trips are defined as a trip of parties in three or more generations.  The most important factor cited as inspiring travel was the need to have enough time to just relax and unwind, reported by 88% of those surveyed.  And many Multi-Gen trips were planned around a "life event": milestone birthday (50%), anniversary (40%), family reunion (39%) or wedding (37%).  Eighty-eight percent of Multi-Gen travelers look for beautiful scenery when choosing a travel destination.  Other top motivators are: a place never visited before (83%), a beach experience (71%), and an opportunity to eat different and unusual cuisines (69%).  Given these motivators it is not surprising that California is the most desired destination for Multigenerational domestic trips - on the list of 53% of those surveyed, with Florida (50%) and Hawaii (45%) following.  Europe received the largest share of outbound US travelers last year and continues to be the top international region considered by the Multi-Gen traveler for travel over the next two years.  For sources of "ideas and inspiration", Multigenerational travelers most often refer to friends and family (for 59% of trips), television (55%), magazines (54%), newspapers (45%), destination websites (44%) and Internet search engines (44%).  Additionally, 37% visited an online forum or blog to seek information about destinations or travel suppliers.  Capturing the Multi-Gen traveler will require leveraging new and up and coming media platforms to communicate the memories, convenience and value to be experienced with their travel purchases.  More details are available in the full report, which can be linked to below.