stroke of luck

he winter work schedule has nearly sucked Mom's and Dad's will to live. School just let out, and the 2.5 kids are already conducting scientific experiments on the neighborhood cats. Everyone's ready for a break. The big question: What to do with vacation time? Your answer: Learn to paddle. Here's a look at some statistics on family vacations and how it all could very easily point toward paddling. Plus, a look at what some manufacturers are providing to make family boating more accessible.



In February 1998, the Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA) released The Adventure Travel Report and stated that 98 million adults (or one-half of the American population) had taken an adventure vacation in the past five years. Dividing adventure travel into two activity categories, soft adventure activities and hard adventure activities, the TIAA reported 11 percent of Americans went canoeing, a soft activity, in the last five years and 8 percent of Americans went kayaking/whitewater rafting, a hard activity, in the last five years. There were no reports on sea kayaking.

While friends are the leading companions for hard adventure travelers, a significantly larger share of soft adventure travelers took spouses (60 percent vs. 42 percent) and children or grandchildren (41 percent vs. 18 percent) on their most recent adventure vacation, says the TIAA.

All right, that's a look at the ones already on the water, but what about all the traveling families in the United States? Who are they? Why are they going on vacation? You need to know these facts to be able to reel them into your store, and show them paddling is their next mode of transportation.

In 1998, according to the TIAA, family vacation trips accounted for 72 percent of all vacation trips in the United States. In all, 91.3 million adults took a family vacation, defined as a vacation with other members of their household 100 miles or more away from home. That number is down from 1997's 104.2 million, but those who did travel took more trips. For example, the majority of family travelers took one or two trips in 1998 (78 percent), averaging 2.4 vacations, overall. Nearly a third of family vacationers (29 percent) took three or more vacations during 1998, an increase from 1996 at 20 percent. As a result, reports the TIAA, total family vacation trips were stable in 1998. Plus, vacation trips with the kids were up 5 percent.

Baby Boomers comprised the largest share of family vacationers and were also the most likely to have children travel with them. As a matter of fact, one out of five parents who took a trip in the past year let their children miss school to be a part of their travel experience. This represents nearly 16 million adults, says the TIAA. Of those 16 million, half said the trip was for pure fun or entertainment. These happy jaunts did not go unplanned, either.

Most family travelers decided on their destination within three months of their travel departure, and 66 percent budgeted annually for their travel together. The families more likely to budget were the Boomers, families that took children and households with incomes of $50,000 or more. To top it off, the TIAA reports that 94 percent of family vacationers rated family vacations as being important to maintaining their family's health, well-being and lifestyle.

Tah dah, these families roaming the countryside could be your prime potential paddling customers. Mom and Dad are speeding the highways and looking for something to do that will entertain themselves as well as their kids. If you have the knowledge and inventory in your store, paddling could be the next form of entertainment for these folks.

If you look up and down the inventory of boat manufacturers today, you'll see a growing number of "family-style" kayaks. Sometimes referred to as "recreational kayaks." They aren't too difficult to pinpoint. Typically, they are wider for stability and have a larger than normal cockpit for easy entry and exit. They have names like Cypress, Grand Cayman, Caspia, Delphin I, Gannet, Poco and Malibu Two. Yet, there's an interesting thing about these boats: their size. There are very few lines of boats that can outfit the whole family, especially kids.

Englehart Products, a Euclid, Ohio-based, kayak manufacturer, has found a market for kids' kayaks. Englehart started in 1988 by building "one-off's" for individual paddlers, but began to notice that more people were bringing the kids on trips. The only problem was that the existing equipment was a little too big. "It's fun to wear Mom's and Dad's shoes for dress-up for about five minutes, but it gets boring after awhile," says Rick Englehart. "Same goes for kids in big boats. They're going to get tired, bored and lose interest."

Today, Englehart has sit-on-tops and traditional cockpit boats in both whitewater and touring sea kayaks, but they are size proportional. For example, the Epitot, a sit-on-top designed to handle up to 65 pounds, and the Epibrat, another version for up to 110 pounds, are specifically made for beginners and little kids. The hull design on these boats is a tri-hull converted into a bi-hull. "They're quick boats so the kids can keep up with the whole family," says Englehart.

Englehart also sees the importance of creating products for customers to grow into. "You need to get across to customers that when they or their kids get into a boat for the first time, they may have a little trouble. If they get a boat that is super stable, they're going to get bored with it a couple of times out," he continues. "I'm talking about parents who have not been in the sport before. They want a stable boat for their kids because they think it's safer. It could work against them."

When it comes to families, Englehart believes that people are looking for more stable boats that are multipurpose at a good price point, but he also says there is an opportunity for retailers in the details. "If the retailer is really trying to do something good for the customer, they need to explain the importance of boats proportioned for body size. Plus, you can make a double sale with kids' boats."

In another report, the TIAA states that there are two significant activities in which U.S. resident travelers participate—shopping and the outdoors. In this case, the outdoor industry has a pretty good opportunity. On the paddling side, according to Englehart: "This whole sport is going gangbusters. If it's presented properly, it can be a whole family sport."