Photo courtesy of Now Resorts & Spas

Multigenerational groups are dream bookings for homebased agents. They’re lucrative and they can also lead to future business from individual members of the group. Several family generations traveling together is also a powerful trend that continues to grow as people live longer and place ever more value on time spent with family.

“This has grown to be a main specialty for me, especially in the past five years,” says Judy Nidetz of Travel Experts in Chicago. “It is very lucrative for several reasons. The more people in the family traveling together, the larger the booking and the higher the commission goes. I have also developed new clients from members of a multigenerational group, who book individual trips later on and also send more referrals from each of their own friends.”

Nidetz believes the reasons for the growth in multigenerational travel are two-fold: the increasing number of retired couples and their larger incomes, together with the post-9/11 trend of families desiring to spend more time together. “Travel is a great way to do that,” she says.

As with any type of client – or group of clients – the qualifying process is essential. When it comes to multigenerational travel, this process can be especially challenging given not only the varied preferences, but also the different ages, within the family group.

“The most important thing I do with every booking – and especially with multigenerational groups – is qualify the clients,” Nidetz says. “I ask many questions about what type of hotels they like and what type of activities they’d like to have available. I like to ask where their last few trips were, where they stayed and what they liked or didn’t like about them.”

Choosing the right vacation experience is contingent on the family’s travel needs in terms of amenities, service and budget, according to Angie Johnson, owner of Tustin, Calif.-based Travel & Cruises by Design, an Avoya Travel agency. “If my clients have a hard time choosing the best cruise line or itinerary for their family vacation, I usually ask each person to write down the most important feature, activity or amenity they want to experience during their trip,” says Johnson.

READ MORE: How Hotels are Catering to Traveling Families

Who pays for the vacation is another key consideration in arranging multigenerational travel. And there’s no simple answer. “In my experience, the person who pays usually varies by family,” Johnson says. “I’ve found that half of my clients have a patriarch or matriarch who pays for the entire family while the other half will divide the cost among each immediate family member.”

Dan Bateman, a Peoria, Ariz.-based independent agent with Cruises Inc., has found that the individual who initiates the trip is typically the primary financial contributor. “There are two categories: grandparents who want to do a family trip, and the ‘kids’ who are planning it and want to bring their parents,” he says.

Debby Hughes, a CruiseOne franchise owner in Big Bear City, Calif., says that lately it’s more often the grandparents who foot the bill for the entire family. “That being said, we still have a lot of the traditional family groups where someone comes up with the idea to vacation together, but they then leave the decision to join in and make the payments, up to each family member,” she adds.

The decision-making on destination, type of trip and accommodations includes a variety of scenarios. “With most of my recent multigenerational groups, the group leader asks for suggestions and options to present to the rest of the family, but he or she gets input and opinions from everyone planning to attend, even if the group leader is paying the bill,” says Hughes.

The trickiest part of an agent’s job, however, may simply be dealing with the inevitable problems that arise with group travel, especially when the group is made up of family members. “You may have an established relationship with some members of the group, but others will be complete strangers and may not be accustomed to using a travel advisor,” says R. D. Gavel of Travel Repetoire in Harvard, Mass., a Travel Experts affiliate. “But, I’ve found that everyone wants to feel that they are being heard. It can definitely be an adventure in travel planning.”