Airbnb Sees Rise of Travelling Families as World Becomes Classroom

Summer is winding to a close, and it was the biggest travel season yet for family travel on Airbnb with 8 million family guest arrivals this summer out of 45 million total.

The UK continues to be a hit with families, global guest arrivals to the UK on Airbnb by families were 150,000 out of 720,000 total. Outbound guest arrivals from UK families were a whopping 500,000 out of 3.3 million total.

Whether you’re looking to learn a foreign language, improve your culinary skills or simply understand a local culture better, travelling can be about so much more than simply crossing a destination off your bucket list. By travelling on  Airbnb and exploring new destinations, we’re seeing families learn together and open themselves up to new experiences, returning home not only with fond memories, but with new skills too.

Airbnb guest and blogger Fritha from Tigerlilly Quinn says: “As a mother of two little children, one of my biggest reasons for wanting to travel with my kids is to give them a global education outside of the traditional classroom. An education that is about learning through living. I find one of the best ways to do that is by staying with local hosts on Airbnb on holiday as they’ve helped my family learn about all sorts of things – from learning new language skills, to understanding a local culture, even how to cook a traditional Italian dish!”

With more than 4 million listings on Airbnb worldwide, families are increasingly turning to Airbnb to plan their next adventure. According to a recent survey of 2,000 British parents carried out via OnePoll, parents say that while travelling and by staying with locals, their children have become more adventurous with food (45%), understood better the local culture (40%), made new cross-culture connections (34%) and learnt a new language (21%). Interestingly, 65% of British children agree that you can learn while you’re on holiday*.  In particular, kids say while travelling they have learnt about different food (56%), how people live in different countries (51%), more about foreign currency (40%) and a foreign language (25%).

Based on the % of bookings made by families on Airbnb, the most popular European destinations this summer for family travellers from around the world were:

1. Cambrils, Spain

2. Kristiansand, Norway

3. Reus, Spain

4. Torrevieja, Spain

5. Estepona, Spain

6. Roses, Spain

7. Alcudia, Spain

8. Denia, Spain

9. Tavira, Spain

10. Poitiers, Spain

When it comes to costs, the average price paid for by family travellers this summer, June 1 – August 31 were:

With a nightly average of just $34 per guest, it’s no surprise that Spain topped the list of popular destinations among families travelling to Europe this summer. When planning a holiday, 30% of British parents browse online for the best looking beaches, while 6% use Pinterest and other social media platforms to research their holiday options.