Fresh research from Hilton finds British grandparents are quietly rewriting the rules of the family holiday, gifting parents almost a full day of downtime a week and turning the multi-gen trip into one of travel’s most resilient growth segments.
The family holiday is undergoing a quiet revolution, and it is the over-60s leading it. New research from Hilton, published this week, suggests that bringing the grandparents along has become the most effective travel hack British families have at their disposal, a phenomenon the hotel group has christened the “Gran-ual Leave” effect.
A study of 1,000 UK grandparents by the global hotel operator found that multi-generational travel is firmly entrenched on the upswing. A quarter (25 per cent) say they are holidaying with their children and grandchildren more often than they were five years ago, and more than two-thirds (69 per cent) have done so in the past 12 months alone.
The dividends, Hilton’s data suggests, run in every direction. Grandparents spend an average of four hours a day entertaining the grandchildren on holiday, freeing up roughly 24 hours of kid-free downtime for parents over a typical week-long break. The under-12s, meanwhile, gain nearly two and a half additional hours of play and bonding time with their grandparents each day, close to 14 extra hours over the course of a week.
A trend with commercial legs
The findings will be of more than passing interest to a hospitality industry hunting for resilient pockets of leisure demand. Multi-generational travel has been steadily climbing the priority list for hoteliers, tour operators and travel managers blending bleisure programmes with extended family trips, and Hilton’s data adds quantitative weight to what the industry has been observing anecdotally for some time.
According to Hilton’s 2026 Trends Report, almost half of British adults (48 per cent) travelled with their grandparents as a child, while one in five children (20 per cent) now holidays exclusively with a grandparent, a striking signal of how central the older generation has become to the family travel economy.
The trade body ABTA has likewise flagged multi-generational travel as one of the most durable consumer travel trends, urging operators to pay closer attention to connecting rooms, accessibility, dining flexibility and pricing structures designed for parties of six or more.
Wellbeing dividend for the over-60s
The benefits run well beyond babysitting. Grandparents told Hilton that travelling with their extended family deepens their bond with their grandchildren (83 per cent) and with their adult children (73 per cent), while 59 per cent said it helped create lasting memories. A third reported improvements in their physical (34 per cent) and emotional (33 per cent) wellbeing, and 34 per cent said the trips left them feeling “young and alive”.
Almost half (47 per cent) said the presence of the older generation helped everyone get more out of the holiday, a useful headline number for hoteliers building family-stay packages around the format.
Hilton found that grandparents take their role as in-house entertainment director seriously. Seven in ten treat their grandchildren on holiday, two-thirds (66 per cent) step in for date-night babysitting and 55 per cent keep the fun ticking over with games and activities. Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) admitted to relishing the role of “rebellious grandparent” while away.
The discipline gap
Seven in ten grandparents conceded they were “much more relaxed and fun” with their grandchildren on holiday than they ever were with their own children, and more than three-quarters (77 per cent) confessed to bending rules they would never have allowed a generation earlier.
That indulgence comes at a price. Three in ten (30 per cent) said the rule-bending had sparked tension with their adult children, and a quarter (25 per cent) have been told they spoil the grandchildren too much. Some 69 per cent admitted to dialling up the spoiling on holiday, with 40 per cent saying it was their favourite moment to do so. Bedtimes slip (63 per cent), treats multiply (62 per cent), games run longer (56 per cent) and mealtime rules are relaxed (41 per cent).
To launch the “Gran-ual Leave” campaign, Hilton has teamed up with the broadcaster, author and grandfather of seven Gyles Brandreth, whose grandchildren range in age from 10 to 21.
“For me, holidays together with my children and grandkids are all about maximising time and creating magical memories together, from the laughter over the breakfast buffet, to impromptu games around the hotel,” Brandreth said. “And much to my own children’s envy, I find myself relaxing the strict rules with the grandchildren which I once held dear with them, saying ‘yes’ more to embrace the fun, freedom, and joy that us grandparents can bring.”
A growth lane for hoteliers
For Hilton, the research is more than a marketing exercise. The group has spent the past 18 months expanding its footprint and brand portfolio in EMEA, where it is poised to pass the 1,000-hotel milestone with the launch of Tempo by Hilton in the region. Multi-generational stays, typically longer, higher in ancillary spend and reliant on connecting rooms and broader food and beverage offerings, sit squarely within that growth thesis.
John Rogers, Senior Vice President, Brand Management for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, said: “Family holidays create lasting memories, and our research shows that grandparents can help everyone get more from the trip, giving parents extra time to unwind and children more time to play and connect. Hilton simplifies multi-generational trips with confirmed connecting rooms, a diverse brand portfolio, and more than 1,000 hotels across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to suit any travel style or budget.”
The trend chimes with a broader rewiring of how British households are using their annual leave. Hilton’s research lands alongside other recent industry data pointing to consumers stretching their time off harder than ever, including the so-called ‘trip-chaining’ phenomenon saving Brits up to a week of annual leave by stitching short breaks together. The argument increasingly being put to travel buyers, agents and hoteliers is that the modern family holiday is no longer a two-generation affair, and operators that fail to design for the third generation risk being left behind.
As one previous industry study put it, families that travel together stay together, and on Hilton’s numbers, it is the grandparents who are increasingly footing the emotional, and often the financial, bill.