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The FDA s recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 was particularly welcome news. Photo Credit: Margaret W./Shutterstock.com
As suppliers and destinations mull how to safely return to the business of tourism, they are increasingly requiring travelers to show proof of vaccination.
But in doing so, they will, in some instances, be leaving behind a key group: Families with children who, even after the recent lowering of eligible age groups for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to 12- to 15-year-olds, are still too young for a jab.
For many suppliers, families are a critical demographic. The 2019 U.S. Family Travel Survey found that 77% of respondents had taken their families on a trip in the past three years, and the average spend on family travel was $3,835. Further, it found that interest in skip-generational travel, when grandparents take their grandchildren on a trip, was growing.
Jamie Biesiada
Jen Campbell Boles, owner of Explore More Family Travel in Cornelius, N.C., opened her business in 2019. Then the pandemic hit, and brands everywhere, including in the travel industry, turned to virtual events to help connect with current and prospective customers.
Boles worried that, unlike her more established peers, she didn t have the client base to draw in crowds for her own virtual events. So she got creative.
One of her friends, Cari Clark Phelps, owns Clark Creative Communications and Salacia Salts. The two have traveled around the world together, and even worked together a bit in the past; with her Clark Creative hat on, Phelps had helped Boles with her travel agency s logo. But Boles saw the potential for a larger collaboration during the pandemic, this time with Phelps retail operation, Salacia Salts.