Homeworking group Not Just Travel has reported an increase in demand for homeschooling holidays – and has dubbed the trend ‘skills and thrills’.
The travel agency group, said its franchisees were seeing such enquiries from customer who have been teaching their children from home during the coronavirus lockdown.
Trips are being planned in Europe and further afield for 2021 as parents embrace the new normal.
Examples include a ‘space and physics’ trip to Daytona Beach in the US, including lunch with an astronaut as well as a trip to theme park Gatorland; a ‘biology and ecology’ trip to Costa Rica with G Adventures where kids can see flora and fauna in the cloud forest and Manuel Antonio National Park; and a ‘PE and cooking’ holiday in Morocco which features surfing, horse riding and cookery lessons.
Co-founder Steve Witt said people are spending more time planning holidays, and that budgets have increased – with the group’s average booking value in April 2020 up 25.2% compared with April 2019 (£3,462 compared to £2,765).
Witt said: “We are hearing from our customers that they are looking to book big educational and adventurous family trips in 2021. Imaginations have been ignited and parents have got quite passionate over some big homeschool projects. As a result, we are booking more big budget learning and adventure holidays. Many of these are in Europe but parents are also looking for some far-flung expeditions.”