A survey has revealed that British children travel so extensively with their parents that many can be considered seasoned travellers by the age of 16.
The survey, which was carried out by France-based holiday resort operator, ClubMed, has revealed that by the age of 16 the average child has travelled 13,500 miles on trips to at least five different countries, and will have had the opportunity of sampling 35 different foreign dishes. According to the report, it is now commonplace for an individual to have visited 11 countries before being old enough to vote.
The figures are in stark contrast to those of just one generation ago, when children were only likely to visit four countries and travel an average of 2,471 miles. But the globetrotting exploits of the nation’s younger generation are not particularly good news for UK-based resorts, with modern children more likely to have visited Spain or France than Devon or Cornwall.
But while their close proximity means that neighbouring European countries are popular destinations for families with children, distance is by no means a limiting factor for a growing proportion of junior travellers, with the USA taking third place on the list of the most visited destinations, and visits to far flung and exotic destinations like Bali and Australia rapidly becoming less exceptional.
Club Med’s managing director in the UK, Laurent De Chorivit, was quoted in the Daily Mail, saying, ‘As well-known brands set up resorts in destinations further afield, exotic holidays are becoming more accessible to families. If the accommodation is familiar and reliable, and the food can be trusted, parents are more likely to take their children to less conventional hotspots.’
