Does a successful family holiday simply equal a great kids’ club? Not always. Adventurous travellers won’t necessarily want to collapse on to a sunlounger for a fortnight just because they’ve got a mini-me or two.
Specialist tour operators have seen a gap in the market and are making it easy for gung-ho parents to take their tots along too. These trips provide an opportunity for families to see out-of-the-way parts of the world in safety and convenience, with the added benefit of other like-minded children – and parents – to befriend.
They’re tailored to suit kids, but make sure you check the minimum age recommendation so that smaller children aren’t over-faced with walks too long for small legs or cultural tours pitched above their heads.
Keep our checklist to hand so you’ve got an answer ready next time a client walks in looking for something to suit their mini-Indiana Joneses.
Explore
With family sales up 18% on last year, Explore added 17 family tours for 2010, with destinations as diverse as Venezuela, Bulgaria, Peru and Morocco.
The minimum age for most of the tours is five, but there are also softer Toddler Tours available for adventurers as young as two. For older children, look at the Teenage Tours – minimum age 11 – which include more challenging pastimes. Activities are optional on all tours, so families can choose a pace that suits them.
Check out the operator’s website for a handy tool that allows you to search which trips are running in each of the school holidays, saving tears and tantrums if the children set their hearts on destinations with awkward departure dates. explore.co.uk
The Adventure Company
With more than 70 trips to choose from, you can help your clients pick the right option by pointing out the handy grading system in the Family Adventure brochure.
Three elements – activity, culture, and nature and wildlife – are graded from one to five (one is low, five high), so parents can see quickly what the general tone of the trip will be.
For those concerned with responsible tourism or with a desire to interact with the locals, there is a special range of hands-on adventures, where families can spend a few days helping out on community projects.
The minimum age tends to be five, except on the special teen adventures, which cater for the over-12s.
Accommodation will always be convenient and clean, but for families looking for a little more in the way of creature comforts, recommend the Family Collection trips, which stay in higher quality options. adventurecompany.co.uk
Intrepid Travel
After purchasing a stake in family specialist Chameleon Travel last year, Intrepid launched a family brochure in February with more than 30 trips on offer.
The operator features tours for five to 17-year-olds, and the itineraries aim to balance organised adventures and free family time. Trip lengths range from six to 19 days, with the shortest being an Arctic trip in Finland including encounters with reindeers and snowshoeing, and the longest an itinerary taking in both Namibia and Botswana, where families can climb sand dunes, go tracking with bushmen and view wildlife in the Okavango Delta from a dugout canoe.
Family trips needn’t break the bank – an eight-day holiday in Morocco starts at £529 per person. intrepidtravel.com
Gap Adventures
The operator’s family trips capture the spirit of their classic adventures but make them more accessible, with shorter travel days, private transport and child-friendly accommodation and activities.
Again, the minimum age is five, and the trips are characterised as basic, standard and comfort, so it’s easy to identify how much roughing-it will be involved before clients book.
Itineraries span across 16 countries, predominantly in Latin America and Asia, although there are popular options closer to home including Egypt, Morocco and Turkey. gapadventures.com
