ATLANTA—IHG’s (InterContinental Hotels Group) Holiday Inn Resort Brand recently launched a Kid Classified marketing campaign to figure out what kids and parents really want out of their vacations. According to a survey from, 97 percent of kids feel that they deserve a vacation. Even more believe that their parents deserve one too, and the number one reason given was stress from working too hard. The survey also revealed that parents involve children in the decision making process when planning family travel more than ever. Almost nine-in-ten parents said their kids’ preferences are influential when choosing a vacation destination.
“The Kid Classified campaign gives us a unique opportunity to uncover not only what parents are looking for on family vacations, but kids’ perspectives as well,” said Heather Balsley, senior vice president, Americas Holiday Inn Brand Family.
A majority of the parents surveyed agreed—pools, kids’ suites, kids eat free programs, and special on-site children’s activities are all important features when considering a hotel for their family vacation.
Other key findings include:
- Most parents plan to travel over the winter holidays, and car travel is more likely than air travel: 60 percent of parents say they plan to take a trip that includes a hotel stay.
- 74 percent of parents surveyed are excited to take a family vacation, and surprisingly 64 percent say they unplug from work completely during the trip.
- While many parents surveyed say they have some financial savings set aside specifically for vacation travel, more than half of parents in the survey (52 percent) noted that saving enough money was the biggest challenge to planning a family vacation, more so than coordination of family schedules (19 percent) or taking time off of work (12 percent).
Photo Credit: Divers on a Beach via Bigstock
