Sorry Mom and Dad, Gen Z is calling the shots on the family vacation now

Diana Hechler, president of US-based D. Tours Travel, said that the proliferation of multi-generational vacations also means a number of luxury hotels are offering apartments to accommodate families with adult kids, such as The Family Coppola Hideaways Turtle Inn in Belize.

A representative of the Coppola lodges told BI that multi-generational family bookings are regular occurrences and became more popular after the pandemic.

Carter also said the travel and hospitality industry is adapting to increases in multi-generational families. She shared a September press release from Kamba, a tour operator she works with to organize exclusive gorilla trek expeditions in the Republic of Congo, which introduced a new young adult rate covering travelers aged 15-30 in September as evidence.

Many Gen Z travelers are molding their family vacations off what they see on social media and by what they want to post.

“It’s definitely the hotels that they’re most interested in,” Carter said. “You can go to London or Paris, but unless you get these money shots, as they say, how do you show that you really did it in style? The hotel is the proof.”

But Gen Zers control over family holidays has its challenges, Hechler said.

“They are well-intentioned, but they are completely ill-equipped to design a trip that their parents are going to like,” she said. “And that’s frustrating.”

As for the parents, Hechler said it also “seems kind of crazy to be paying the bill but to not maintain control over it.”

When the client’s kid becomes the client

As a self-proclaimed “geriatric millennial,” Carter has mixed feelings toward the growing influence of Gen Z on luxury family travel.

A case that sprung to mind was when a Gen Z kid of a parent she was working with wanted them to book The Ritz in Paris for a family vacation because the Kardashian-Jenner’s usually stay there.

Carter recalled telling the client: “I know that the Kardashians love The Ritz, but I’ve stayed there, and I can tell you it’s really not the hotel you want to go to. Please listen to me.”

But, she added, her clients don’t always “feel that they can push back” on their kids.

“Ultimately, I have to do what the client wants to do,” Carter said — even if that really means doing what their kids want to do.