The following is a guest post from Ayana Rodriguez, founder and CEO at Itavi. Opinions are the author’s own.
Hotels are in the business of hospitality, which means delivering exceptional, second-to-none experiences to guests. Today’s traveler has a taste for luxury, culture and discovery and desires to share joy and create memories, especially with their children. Properties that go beyond the norm and focus on alternative ways to attract diverse types of travelers have the power to be trendsetters in family travel.
Given family-friendly travel is a $175 billion opportunity, understanding this market is critical to the modern-day hotel’s growth and success. With families prioritizing traveling together, junior guests are now a top segment to consider.
Successfully targeting a family can convert each of its members into a returning guest, creating multigenerational traction and long-term loyalty. This starts with offering guests the right mix of family-friendly services.
Next-level childcare
When it’s time for a hotel to assess its family-friendliness, childcare services should rank high on the list. Whether the property offers trustworthy childcare services can mean landing or losing a hotel booking. If the decision is between two enticing hotels, but one offers childcare assistance and the other does not, the family who needs this service is going to book the hotel that caters to their needs.
In 2025, though, on-site childcare doesn't boil down to your typical babysitter. It employs trained and vetted childcare professionals who don’t lean on devices, so they’ll never just plant a child in front of a tablet or TV until their job is done. Instead, a quality childcare service has devices fully loaded with STEM-enriched activities — teaching kids, but with sustainable tactics that aren’t obvious, so they don’t feel like they're at school while on vacation. Good childcare also integrates activities like crafting and mindful movement that engage kids, evoke emotions and keep a child’s developing brain in motion.
By offering this type of premium childcare, parents can take advantage of more than just a dinner out; they can access all of the hotel’s adult-focused amenities while knowing their children are not only safe, but enjoying an enriching experience.
Personalizing the junior guest’s experience
Hotels can also appeal to junior guests with personalized touches. Sending a child-friendly questionnaire via email can help the internal team learn about children’s interests before they arrive. With this personalized data, hotels can create custom welcome kits and offer special in-room amenities.
Activities that cater to children of different ages and development skills can also help hotels reach more families. This is another area where a questionnaire comes in handy; it offers hoteliers the opportunity to learn more about the current trends that appeal to junior guests and get to know their personalities and hobbies.
Centering wellness
Keeping mind-body balance top of mind allows hotels to cast a wider net. In addition to a dedicated play area and a kids’ zen room, why not offer an outdoor paint party or kids’ yoga with a view? Use spaces within and around the hotel so curious minds are continuously satiated.
Family-friendly holiday programming is another offering that allows hotels to secure all-ages bookings during their busiest seasons. And the right type of holiday vacation offers more than a family meal together. It means family bonding through group games, excursions, sports, curated family activities and food preparation experiences, whether exclusively or with other families, so everyone has the choice to be socially engaged.
Multigenerational travel’s growth potential
Leaving a lasting impact on parents and children offers hotels the ultimate gift: consumer retention. A hotel with the right family-friendly program has the power to land a lifelong visitor. There’s value in traveler loyalty, and a great stay can encourage a young child to develop an attachment to your property — and hopefully want to share that experience with their own family one day.
There’s a lot of opportunity in creating memories, and now more than ever, travelers want to share their stories with their friends. Parents love to chat about their great family vacations with other parents, whether it's at happy hour, Pilates or the golf course. And while word of mouth is powerful in local circles, don’t discredit the reach of social media, which is not only at the fingertips of parents, but also available to teens and young adults, who often share content that brings value to a hotel.
