Group Travel Scoop - Groople.com

Holiday Gatherings - Start Planning Your Family Reunion or Family Vacation

When you get together with your friends and family over the holidays, remember this is the perfect time to plan a vacation with your extended family or that big reunion you've been wanting to arrange. When you plan a group trip, it is really nice to include as much of your group as possible in the planning and decision making.

People like to be included, and they appreciate when you get their input as part of the planning process. Group travel involves more than just the trip coordinator's preferences and needs. You are responsible for everyone's experience.

When you gather around the table for that wonderful meal, take a few minutes and start the discussion about where you want to meet up this spring or summer. If it is a family reunion trip, a really popular choice these days is an all-inclusive resort stay in Mexico or the Caribbean. It is nice to all agree on a destination and to be able to tell everyone exactly how much the trip will cost upfront, including airfare, meals, drinks, and accommodations.

Before you get together over the next week or so, search for some all-inclusive resorts to give your family some ideas.

Search for Resorts Now

Holidays are a Great Time to Start Family Reunion Planning

This is a great time to start planning a family reunion.  Whether you are getting together with the family for Thanksgiving or December holidays, you can share ideas about timing, activities, destination and other group travel criteria. While you have the "clan" together, here are a few things to talk about.

When to go:  Like herding cats, trying to get everyone together at the same time is a challenge.  Find out when school gets out and when it starts for the younger one. Get a handle on vacation windows for the worker bees and free times for the others. Most families spend about 5 days at a reunion, so long weekends can be a perfect time to get together.

Get an idea of budget. One person's idea of economy may not be the same as the others. Try to figure out a range of what people are willing to spend. All-inclusive resorts help manage the budget. It is also helpful to know which factor is the most important: budget, location or timing.

It is important to know what kinds of activities the group likes to do.  Family reunions can involve many people of all different ages. It is important to consider everyone when planning the activities.  If the family likes to be entertained, then a cruise or theme park might be just the right thing.  If the family likes adventure then the Rocky Mountains might be the best spot.

Talk about possible destinations. Once the group gets an idea of the types of activities, then you can start narrowing down the potential destinations.

Ideas for family reunions: National Parks, Alaska Cruise, House boating on Lake Powell, Stratton Mountain Resort, Vermont, YMCA Estes Park, Colorado.

Below are the Top 10 Family Reunion destinations for our customers:

1) Las Vegas

2) Orlando

3) Anaheim

4) Miami

5) Virginia Beach

6) Boston

7) Memphis

8) Venice, Italy

9) Atlantic City

10) Chicago

Louise Hurlbut
VP, Marketing - Groople.com