International Travel Demand Rebounding Quickly for Grandparents

On June 4, Road Scholar, the world leader in educational travel for older adults, kicked off their 38th Grandparent Adventure season. And this year, Road Scholar’s grandparents and grandkids have had their sights set on learning farther from home. 

Road Scholar reports that they’re almost back up to pre-pandemic numbers for their international Grandparent Programs— despite the fact that they have far less capacity available as they rebuild their offerings. (For comparison, their domestic grandparent enrollments overall for 2023 are just over half of what they saw pre-pandemic.) 

“The appetite for global exploration is stronger than ever,” says Road Scholar’s Chief Program Officer, Maeve Hartney. “Our participants have shown us that they’re really ready to get out there and explore the world again this year, and their grandkids are just as eager to travel abroad with them.”

Road Scholar is responding to this trend by offering more international programs for 2024— two-thirds of the new Grandparent and Family programs Road Scholar will debut in 2024 are international, and those programs are filling up fast.

• NEW GRANDPARENT & FAMILY ADVENTURES FOR 2023: Japan, Australia, Greece, Idaho Whitewater Rafting, Hawaii, Chincoteague Bay, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Sailing the Maine Coast, Puerto Rico, San Juan Islands, San Diego, and STEM Kansas
• NEW GRANDPARENT & FAMILY ADVENTURES FOR 2024: Germany, Copenhagen,  Amalfi Coast, Alaska Family, Barrier Islands Family, and, coming soon: Grandparent & Family Programs in Panama

Cindy and Jim Horner from Sterling, Colorado took their two grandsons on an African safari with Road Scholar in 2022, and this summer they traveled to Iceland with their two granddaughters. They said they are intentional about wanting to travel internationally with their grandchildren.

“We have chosen to take our grandchildren on international trips to expose them to different geographical settings, cultures, and standards of living,” Cindy said. “It is our hope that they return with a broadened understanding of the world.”

Jean McMillan from Wayland, New York has taken three of her grandchildren on Road Scholar adventures. She says her grandkids were the ones to choose international trips, but with her encouragement.

“I would have taken them on any of the trips,” says Jean,” but I encouraged them to dream big so that there would be big adventures to be remembered that only we would share.”

Road Scholar has been offering program for grandparents and grandkids (often referred to in the travel industry as “skip-gen”) since 1985. They also offer Family Programs, which cater to grandparents traveling with their children and grandchildren together.

Learn more about Road Scholar’s Grandparent Adventures at https://www.roadscholar.org/grandparent. Find photos here.