Family Vacation 2050: Socially and Technologically-Driven Scenarios of the Future of Family Travel, Recreation and Tourism

This article identifies major technological and social uncertainties relevant to the future of family travel. Future scenarios, constructed using the deductive 2x2 matrix, or GBN scenario process, depend on two factors that represent key social and technological change drivers: the demographic growth of unmarried, unattached, non-cohabiting individuals (“singletons”) and availability of technologically advanced virtual reality consumer experiences. As demographic shifts, wherein the individual is posed to outnumber the group as a consumer cohort, and technologies deliver virtual experiences that compete with a commonly shared reality, what is the future for family tourism and travel? The four scenarios offer possibilities that contain specific opportunities, threats and challenges to the family travel industry in 2050.