Single Women With Baby-Making Siblings Are All The Rage In The Travel Industry

Here I am, a single woman with a career, lying around on heaps and heaps of money. But since I don’t have kids of my own, who can I spoil with all these riches? The nearest available child might do, but the travel industry is betting I’ll throw down my dispensable income to visit my nieces and nephews so I can ply them with presents like any childless aunt would. Heck, maybe I’ll take them to Disney World.*

You see, I’m a PANK. You might be one too: The “Professional Aunt, No Kids” demographic is a tantalizing demographic, says a new report on global tourism trends by Euromonitor, via Qz.com.

PANKs aren’t limited to the travel industry, as other marketers have also read up on reports that say women will dole out around $500 every year on each child in their life. As such, Euromonitor says travel marketers would be wise to start targeting PANKs in ads for family vacations.

”PANKs want to have meaningful experiences with the children in their lives and develop strong bonds with them, which makes travel an ideal product for this demographic,” Melanie Notkin of the Savvy Auntie, a website for aunts and godmothers, told the research group. She’s the one behind the term PANK, if you’re looking for someone to thank. Rhyming totally intentional.

It does make some sense: Because I don’t live in the same cities as my assorted nieces and nephews, spending money on travel to visit them is just as inevitable as the damage I’ll do to my bank account buying mini Packers jerseys and stuffed unicorns for my brothers’ kids.

The thinking here is, if a PANK sees an ad peddling a vacation for a “traditional” mom-dad-daughter-son family, we’re not tempted to buy it. But you show me a photo of a happy PANK surrounded by her adoring nieces and nephews at some super fun theme park, and maybe you’ve got a new customer.

Not that I am at all okay being called a PANK, but darn it all if I don’t love my siblings’ kids to an unwavering degree of dedication. And that’s exactly why marketers are trying to figure out how to harness that devotion into real cash money. At least now I know where I stand, so bring it on, marketers. Bring it on.

*Don’t hold your breath, kids. 

The latest travel marketing craze: Unmarried aunts who want to spoil other people’s kids [QZ]

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