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What's happened to the family market this year? And will it come back?

News
Ilaria Grasso Macola
28 April 2025

Families have long been a mainstay for many travel businesses, yet the signs are that these valuable clients are keeping their powder dry and leaving it late to book for the summer – if at all.

Family Beach Sun Fun pexels-bayu-jefri-1387037 (Credit: Bayu Jefri / Pexels)

Agents have told TTG some of their best clients have failed to 'turn up' in the first months of 2025 (Credit: Bayu Jefri / Pexels)

A number of agents have experienced a slow start to the year in the family market, with several telling TTG some of their loyal family customers have "failed to turn up" during the first few months of the year.


“We’re certainly not seeing families come back yet in big numbers,” said Henbury Travel owner Richard Slater. “Generally, our two adults, two kids customers have gone AWOL.”


The Travel Network Group’s chief commercial officer Vim Vithaldas highlighted how a lot of early year family enquiries had not converted into bookings. It all points to another busy lates market, similar to 2024, he said.