Dr. Tamara Rátz

“The Good Place – Childrens’ Perceptions of Holiday Destinations?”

Dr. Bodil Stilling Blichfeldt

“Child-friendly holidays: Qualify and Quantity of Family Time “

Dr. Muhammet Kesgin

Family Vacations: Effective Customer Journey Design

Family vacations is a significant market in which there are parents (almost 50%) in the United States taking at least three family vacations a year. This presentation approaches to the family vacation from the perspective of effective customer journey design. The ultimate purpose of the effective customer journey design is to provide customers memorable experiences. In this regard, the questions this presentation address are how do customer journeys unfold in the family vacation market and what design elements complement memorable family vacation journeys. In doing so, the talk recognizes the importance of anticipating a vacation as it is found to be one of the happiest parts of a vacation journey. Expectations and preferences are related to vacation anticipation and a review of our understanding of the expectations and preferences as prerequisite for designing and managing the family vacation experience has both managerial and practical relevance especially at times of such as COVID-19 resulting changes in consumers preferences, attitudes and behaviors. The presentation will evaluate frameworks and tools in managing and improving both the designed and expected customer experience through the customer journey, as well as the influence of COVID-19; thus has implications for practitioners.