Is summer vacation all about going out and having fun? Survey: 40% of Taiwanese parents don’t want to take their kids on trips

▲Summer vacation is here, and many families plan family outings. (Illustration / Photo by reporter Lin Shih-wen)

Reporter Tsai Wen-jun / Comprehensive report

With summer vacation here, many teenagers look forward most to going on a family trip and enjoying a happy holiday. However, a recent survey by Expedia reveals that over 40% of parents in Taiwan and Hong Kong do not wish to travel with their children during the summer break, primarily because they “don’t want their kids to fall behind in schoolwork.”

▲Summer vacation is a much-anticipated holiday for many teenagers. (Illustration / Photo by reporter Chou Chen-keng)

Expedia recently conducted a survey titled “Attitudes Toward Family Travel,” interviewing 4,000 parents and teenagers aged 13–17 from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. Nearly 90% of teenagers said family trips are more important than new toys or games, and over 90% believe family travel helps strengthen bonds among family members. As a result, many parents take advantage of the summer vacation to plan overseas family trips to enhance family relationships. Among them, over 80% arrange at least one family trip per year, with nearly 70% of South Korean parents taking two or more family trips annually—the highest proportion. This is followed by Japan at 55%, Taiwan at 45%, and Hong Kong at 25%.

▲Asian parents have very different experiences after actual trips. (Illustration / Photo by reporter Lin Shih-wen)

However, once the trips actually happen, Asian parents’ experiences vary greatly. Over 40% of parents in Taiwan and Hong Kong said traveling abroad with their kids prevents them from fully enjoying the vacation, compared to only about 20% of parents in Japan and South Korea. Additionally, the survey found that when asked if they don’t want to travel with their kids, less than 10% of South Korean parents felt this way, while around a quarter of parents in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan would prefer not to bring their children along. Among them, nearly 40% of parents in Taiwan and Hong Kong cited “not wanting their kids to miss school” as the main reason.

In terms of parenting styles during trips, nearly 50% of parents in Japan and South Korea tend to let their kids relax or sleep in, while about 50% of parents in Taiwan and Hong Kong maintain the same “tiger parent” style of Chinese education and do not change their parenting methods just because they’re traveling.