What Kids Want on Vacation
May is right around the corner and summer vacation planning is in full swing (if not already taken care of). Parents have their idea of a perfect vacation, hotel, or place to visit, but what do the kids want? To find out what children truly want from a hotel, Residence Inn hosted the first-ever Kids Roundtable on travel last summer in Manhattan, consisting of 10 participants ranging in age from 8 to 12 years old.
Key findings conveyed the need for hotels to focus on personalization and customization for young guests. Below are the Top 3 things kids want at a hotel per the survey results Residence Inn by Marriott.
1. Customized experiences with a tech twist. Kids want to be in control of their travel experiences, from preordering in-room snacks to deciding hotel room amenities. Hoteliers shouldn’t underestimate the importance of the bed itself, either. Ideas ranged from mattresses and pillows that can adjust firmness based on personal preference, to mechanisms specifically designed for light sleepers (soundproofing) or heavy sleepers (an alarm-enhanced pillow).
2. Emotional experiences and memories. When asked to cite the best part of traveling with their families, kids mentioned the emotional experiences and importance of sharing memories. They ranked connecting with family, seeing relatives who live abroad and spending quality time with loved ones as the most meaningful experiences.
3. High-tech transportation. Forget long family road trips packed into a minivan. Flying cars, teleports, Google driverless cars, hovercrafts and jet packs are the predictions the roundtable kids made for future transportation methods. In fact, half of the attendees believe they will one day have the option to holiday on the moon.
High-tech transpo may not be mainstream yet, but telporting and a driverless car sounds great to me! And quality family time is what a family vacation is all about.
Be sure to look for our May issue, on stands next week. It’s full of ideas for vacations via automobile, train or plane. Remember half the fun is in the journey to your destination.
