All in family: Vacations with kin create fond memories: Survey

Family vacations are not just for deepening bonds and exploring the world together, but they go a long way in forging cherished memories, a survey has revealed.
The majority of Indian respondents covered in the survey said their favourite memories occurred while on family vacations.
"Family vacations play a big role in creating people's favourite memories. Respondents in most countries said more than 50 per cent of their favourite memories occurred on family vacations, including India (69 per cent), Thailand (79 per cent), Malaysia (78 per cent), Brazil (76 per cent), France and South Korea (70 per cent," according to Expedia 'Family Travel Survey 2017'.

However, the survey also found 22 per cent Indian parents regret taking a child on a long-haul flight as 45 per cent had a tantrum during the flight. Another 39 per cent said the child made a mess with vomit or otherwise and 36 per cent yelled at a passenger or flight attendant, Expedia in India Marketing Head Manmeet Ahluwalia said.
"Despite this, we found that 81 per cent Indians still research more on kids' holiday destinations," he added.
This survey was conducted on behalf of travel company Expedia by Northstar, a global strategic research firm. It covered 17,079 respondents - 5,570 teens, 8,486 parents and 3,023 non-parents - across 28 countries.

It was conducted online during May across North America, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific.

Family vacations, the survey revealed, act as a strong force to bring siblings together.
Asian teens said family vacations bring them close to their siblings. Further, the survey found that most teens and their parents go on vacations twice a year.
Teens are much more likely to travel twice a year or more with family. This was the majority opinion in countires like Thailand and South Korea (74 per cent), Mexico (66 per cent), India (57 per cent), Singapore (55 per cent) and Malaysia (52 per cent), it said.

Parents are likely to travel twice a year or more on family vacations with 68 per cent respondents saying so in South Korea, followed by Mexico (60 per cent), Thailand (58 per cent), India and Japan (55 per cent), Switzerland and France (50 per cent), it said.
It also found that parents usually do not prefer to bring grandparents along as their favourite travel companions on family vacations.
Very few people with children showed interest in travelling with their own parents. This was notable in Thailand (24 per cent), India (18 per cent), Malaysia (16 per cent), South Korea (15 per cent) and Switzerland (12 per cent).

However, the report found non-parents still choose parents as their top travel companion. This was the case in Thailand (59 per cent), Malaysia (38 per cent), Singapore (36 per cent), South Korea (33 per cent) and India (30 per cent).
In India (63 per cent), Thailand (57 per cent), Malaysia (56 per cent), New Zealand (55 per cent) and Singapore (54 per cent) parents said they are more relaxed with their children.
Parents agreed that their holidays are more active and focused on kids' activities. This was mostly found among travellers in Germany (93 per cent), Taiwan (92 per cent), Ireland (91 per cent), India and Austria (90 per cent), it added.