The family segment is establishing itself as one of the main pillars of the global tourism business. Despite declining birth rates in many source markets, its sustained growth and economic weight position it as one of the key drivers of profitability for the hotel sector. This was highlighted in a recent webinar jointly organized by Dingus and Booking.com, where a clear diagnosis emerged: demand exists and is growing, but not all hotels are managing to capture it efficiently.
Currently, family tourism accounts for around 30% of global travel spending and is expected to reach $590 billion by 2033, representing a 74% increase in less than a decade. In 2025, total international travel volume reached 1.52 billion arrivals, with expenditure of $340 billion, figures that reflect the structural weight of this segment. In Spain, the trend is similar: 28% of international tourists travel as a family, generating close to €36 billion in spending, with steady growth in recent years.
Travel as an emotional investment
Far from declining, the segment is evolving. The rise of multigenerational travel, new family structures, and the entry of millennials and Generation Z into this life stage are broadening the profile of the family traveler. Added to this is the growth of middle classes in emerging markets such as Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, which is boosting demand. Beyond the figures, one of the most relevant changes is the role of travel as an emotional factor. According to shared data, 78% of families believe that traveling together strengthens bonds, making tourism a priority even in complex economic contexts. Additionally, 49% of parents acknowledge that their children directly influence the choice of destination, consolidating the phenomenon known as kidfluence.
In this context, the purchasing behavior of family customers shows clear differences compared to other segments. Although price remains an important factor, families prioritize trust, clarity, and security in the booking process. Elements such as room configurations, child policies, or the availability of services must be clearly defined, since a lack of information does not generate doubt—it leads to abandonment of the booking process.
This is also a particularly profitable customer segment. 70% of families book more than three months in advance, while 73% of stays last between 3 and 7 nights. This is combined with higher on-site spending and a stronger tendency to return. On platforms such as Booking.com, this trend is clearly reflected: family bookings have grown twice as fast as other segments over the past two years, and currently one in four searches corresponds to this profile.
However, the main challenge identified is not demand, but conversion. Many hotels fail to transform this demand into bookings due to issues in the configuration and distribution of their offer. Errors such as poorly defined occupancies, unclear room types, incorrectly applied child rates, or lack of information about beds and capacities directly impact visibility across sales channels and the customer’s final decision. In common searches, such as two adults with one child, this can result in offers that are uncompetitive or difficult to understand, reducing booking potential.
One of the key takeaways is the impact of simplification. In an environment where more than 70% of searches are carried out on mobile devices, excessive complexity in the offer hinders conversion. A practical case showed how a property operating with more than 20 room types significantly improved performance after reducing them to five clear categories, increasing both visibility and conversion rate.
Importantly, these types of optimizations do not always require changes in commercial policy. Improving inventory configuration, without modifying prices or promotions, made it possible to achieve 47% higher conversion compared to the previous year, 114% better performance than the competitive set, and a 40% increase in revenue from the family segment. Additionally, ADR in this segment was up to €70 higher than in other profiles.
The analysis also highlights the growing importance of technology in distribution. Factors such as content quality, data structuring, and image tagging are crucial for systems (and increasingly artificial intelligence) to properly recommend accommodation. A lack of precise information can therefore result in lower visibility, regardless of the actual quality of the product.
The main challenge is not attracting demand, but converting it
The family segment is not a future trend but an established reality. However, capitalizing on it increasingly depends on hotels’ ability to adapt their distribution strategy and present their product in a clear, structured way that aligns with customer expectations. In a highly competitive environment, the difference between capturing or losing a booking lies not only in the available demand, but in how that offer is configured and presented across sales channels.
Cristina Torres, Dircom Dingus
