Whether it’s a shot left in their home country or a long flight to a more exotic destination, recent global surveys by the travel industry have revealed that, beyond the trend of multi-generational travel, many parents are still paying for holidays with their adult children.
Although the constrained economy has affected some people’s travel plans, Flight Centre has developed an innovative new travel savings plan based on an old South Africa tradition, the stokvel.
The name comes from the old English stock fairs that were held where a community of people would invest small sums of money – held in a ‘stokvel trust’ – to save and purchase livestock at these fairs.
The Flight Centre Travel Stokvel allows for as little as three and as many as 30 members to sign on and take turns to contribute to the next family trip.
Parents of adult children could, for example, pay a certain amount every month, but the adult children could also allocate a certain amount and feel as if they too are contributing.
Members of the Travel Stokvel will receive exclusive discounts and promotions not available to other customers.
Flight Centre Leisure Marketing Leader, Nicky Potgieter said parents whose children have left home, even decades ago, often find themselves with more disposable income, while their adult children are often still bogged down by mortgages, education trusts for their children.
Potgieter points out that while foreign travel certainly has a special allure, there are a number of local trips parents could plan with their adult children, where hotels, guest houses, and resorts often have bigger units that can accommodate families at a competitive price.