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

Gen Z is growing up. They’re high school students, college seniors, graduates, and a burgeoning cohort in the US workforce.

But as much as they may be dabbling with “adulting,” one part of childhood Gen Zers aren’t ready to let go of is the good old family vacation.

“10 years ago, kids in their mid-20s weren’t really traveling with their parents that much,” Julia Carter, founder of luxury travel agency Craft Travel, told B-17. “They would be with their significant others or spouses or even their own families or their friends.”

But this is increasingly changing, and Gen Zers and adult kids aren’t just tagging along on these trips; they’re calling the shots and organizing the family vacations themselves.

Taking the reins from mom and dad

Gen Z’s influence on the family holiday has become so pervasive that Carter, who is based in South Africa, said around 80% of the family trips Craft Travel helps organize are directly influenced by them.

“It’s a lot of, ‘My kid said this, my kid wants this,'” Carter said.

She said that before 2019, Gen Zers were more seen rather than heard but this changed in the aftermath of COVID-19 lockdowns when families spent extended amounts of time together.

Whether teens and adult kids feel closer to their family now is unclear, but they’re certainly more comfortable weighing in on the nitty-gritty details that make a family vacation, including the pricier parts like accommodation at hotels, which have been gaining a competitive edge amid Airbnb’s recent struggles.

Luxury travel agents say Gen Z isn’t holding back with their family vacation requests.

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 B-17 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.