Kids rule when it comes to leisure travel. That might sound completely obvious?and it is ? but many hotel companies don?t necessarily realize or cater to this trend. Of course they think of mom and dad, but when it comes to the kids many times they?re an afterthought.
Which is a shame because kids are becoming a hugely influential part of the vacation decision making. And a new survey from Holiday Inn Resort proves that if the kids aren?t on board with the decision making process, then your hotel doesn?t have a chance to win that business. That survey noted 90 percent of parents say their kids are influential when it comes to choosing a vacation destination.
That?s a pretty heady number proving it?s essential to appeal to those influential offspring. So Holiday Inn Resort is looking to take these survey results and turn them into the basis for more engaging experiences for families to share together.
?By winning with families we will also win with a segment of business travelers. They work to live, not live to work and families are at the heart of everything they do,? said Heather Balsley, SVP, Americas Holiday Inn Brand Family, which includes Holiday Inn Resort and is part of InterContinental Hotels Group.
The idea here is if Holiday Inn Resort can create a holistic family experience by giving families what they crave ? the desire to reconnect with each other ? that will spill into other areas of the business, including when mom and dad travel for work. So Balsley and her team created this survey with the idea that these results will help them ?amplify? the resort experience, she said.
And the survey, which interviewed both kids and adults, reinforced a lot of what their collective guts already figured: Time starved families are overstressed and overscheduled and even kids think they need a vacation. Not surprisingly 97 percent of kids believe they deserve a vacation and 98 percent of kids think their parents do too. We?re just wondering who that other three percent of kids are and why they feel they don?t need a vacation.
Top destinations: Theme Parks (29 percent), beaches (23 percent) and large cities (23 percent). Additionally, the top features parents are looking for when booking a resort hotel are pools (85 percent), Kids Suites (64 percent), kids eat free (62 percent) and special on-site activities (61 percent).
?Location is critical and all consumer insight work we have done shows location is number one, not just the resort?s destination but the right location in that market. Also, parents want kids to have new experiences whether it is at a beach, ski resort or theme park,? said Balsley. ?In many ways they want a resort to be like a cruise ship experience on land.?
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