Supplier Family-Friendly Certification - Family Travel AssociationFamily Travel Association

Introduction to the Family Travel Association Supplier Family-Friendly Certification

We are proud to share with you our most important initiative to date: The FTA Family-Friendly Certification Program. As the industry voice for family travel, the FTA has taken the lead in developing industry standards and guidelines that define what it means to be truly family-friendly and identify what suppliers need to do to earn this designation.

Increasingly, travel advisors and the traveling public are seeking ways to evaluate and select companies that are truly family-friendly. This certification takes the guesswork out of choosing Family-Friendly Suppliers. Certified suppliers will go through an application and audit process, confirming they meet the established criteria to be designated Family Friendly by the FTA.

“Our ultimate goal with this program and the Association at large is to help our industry better meet the needs and expectations of traveling families,” says Rainer Jenss, founder of the FTA. “By creating these industry guidelines, we are hoping to set the standards that will assist organizations when developing products and services for families, and help travel advisors choose who to work with when planning their clients’ vacations.”

Congratulations to the following FTA member Certified Suppliers.

Setting the Standard: What are the Standards and Guidelines?

Taking advantage of the FTA expertise in the area of family travel, as well as drawing from years of consumer data, the FTA Family Friendly Standards and Guidelines were developed to give suppliers within the industry an opportunity to make sure their own family-friendly offerings meet or exceed consumer expectations.

Click through below to review the full Standards and Guidelines by supplier category:

Attractions • Cruise • Hotel • Resort • Tour Operators • DMO/DMC (coming soon)

More than a logo: The benefits of becoming certified

Becoming certified, suppliers will stand out to travel advisors and traveling families as an organization that has met the Family Friendly standards and has been vetted by the FTA through an audit process. Beyond the sales implications of travelers and advisors having established trust in suppliers through certification, there are many additional benefits offered.

See below for a list of the marketing benefits included in certification.

Inclusion in FTA Press Release
A personalized Press Release written by FTA Certification Team for your company’s distribution
An email template for you to customize and send to your mail list
A blog provide by the FTA Certification team posted on the FTA blog which highlights items discussed in this training where your company is going “above and beyond” certification
Your company highlighted as a Certified FTA Family Travel Supplier on FTAs Facebook and Instagram accounts
Inclusion on an FTA email to their travel advisors noting you as a Certified Family Travel Supplier
The Certified FTA Family Travel Supplier logo for your marketing use

Get Certified: How to apply to become a FTA Certified Family-Travel Supplier

We’re excited that you’re interested in applying to become a FTA Certified Family-Travel Supplier!

The first step to applying is to review the full Standards and Guidelines for your supplier type. To become certified, suppliers must meet the mandatory requirements as well as a minimum percentage of the non-mandatory requirements*.

Click here to start the application process

To go a step further the FTA used these standards to develop a certification process that requires suppliers to apply for certification and undergo an audit of current practices. After submission of the application and an outside audit, travel suppliers who meet a certain percentage of standards are certified family-friendly and will enter the certification phase where they will participate in coaching, standard marketing package training, and receive logo usage rights.

Certification and Travel Advisors: Travel Advisors can nominate suppliers!

FTA Travel Advisors have an insider knowledge of what traveling families are looking for, and which suppliers are currently offering incredible experiences for families. While this program was in part developed to help travel advisors find the best suppliers for their guests, the FTA is aware that you may already have some great suppliers who should get certified. If you would like to nominate a supplier to become a Certified FTA Family Travel Supplier, please fill out the form below. If that supplier becomes certified, the travel advisor name will be announced with the media benefits as listed for suppliers below.

Click here to Nominate a Supplier to become Certified

What does it cost to become certified?

Questions?

Check out our FAQs

Additional questions – feel free to reach out to the FTA Certification Team at certification@familytravel.org

*see full standard and guidelines by supplier type for details on requirements for certification