FTA Spotlight: Re/Defining Family Travel > Technology's Impact on Family Travel
This is the discussion page for the fifth of 12 core family travel topics being presented in collaboration with the Family Travel Association (FTA).
Our topic is Technology's Impact on Family Travel (read the short essay in this link first or review the summary below).
Summary: Technological advancements have changed just about everything, including the character of family time, and the nature and importance of family travel. On the one hand, parents and adults rely on technology for both work and play, and kids and teens are digital natives for whom being connected has become a human need. On the other hand, family time is eroding as attention devoted to browsing, texting, searching, Instagramming, posting, tweeting, blogging and vlogging increases. While the quantity of family time evaporates, family vacations therefore become all the more important for the quality time they allow, and technology needs to enable and elevate the making of memories, not compete with it.
We are very keen to learn what you think of technology's impact on family travel, so please share your thoughts below.
About the Family Travel Association and Re/Define Family Travel Campaign
The Family Travel Association is an organization that aims to inspire families to travel together by bringing together the world’s leading suppliers, resources and experts on traveling with kids.
At the end of September this year, the FTA is hosting its first annual Summit. Over the course of two full days, an assembly of industry executives and family travel experts will expand upon topics essential to a rounded understanding of the challenges of family travel.
In anticipation of that, Outbounding is collaborating with the FTA to count down the 12 weeks leading up to the Summit by spotlighting the 12 core family travel topics to the public. Each week, as part of its FTA Spotlight: Re/Define Family Travel campaign, we will open a discussion board in where you can feedback in reaction to an introductory essay written about the topic.
Following the Summit, Outbounding will again join forces with the FTA as it initiates a 12-month process of digging much deeper into each of these topics, one per month. By the time the FTA gathers for its next Summit in September 2016, it expects to have a much more powerful grasp of what's at play in family travel, fueled in part by your input here.