Family Vacations Made Easy on New Web Site   ATLANTA, April 26, 2004-- Pioneer Marketing Research launched a Web site today that helps parents find the best places to take a vacation with children. VacationsWithKids.com, a free resource contains ratings and verbatim remarks from more than 2,000 families who took vacations at least 50 miles from home in the last year.

Families can research more than 130 destinations & view reviews by other families

Respondents provided information on the quality of accommodations, the quality of activities, the variety of dining options and the perceived value for the dollars spent on their vacation. The surveys also measured whether a family would return to a city or recommend that city to other families.

Marvin Ingram, president of an Atlanta travel agency comments that Vacations With Kids offers families a much-needed online resource.

"This is the first truly unique travel planning tool I have seen in my 35 years in the travel business," Ingram said. "It can be very helpful to every family considering where to go and what to do with kids."

Families can research more than 130 destinations, as determined by other families who vacationed there. Visitors to the Web site can search by state, age of children or number of nights they plan to stay.

Search results reveal how families rate a city's lodging, attractions and other offerings and also contain a comments page with verbatim remarks from families who visited a particular destination. Search results also include a variety of links that direct vacationers to a destination's own Web site, family travel Web sites, travel tips and other resources to help them plan vacations.


"If you look at Expedia or some of the other major travel sites, they contain some evaluations, but those are usually based on the opinions of just a few visitors," said Blumberg. "Vacations With Kids is based on scientifically sound research. To our knowledge, vacationswithkids.net is the only family-to-family planning guide with ratings of vacation destinations from families with kids for families with kids."

Blumberg added: "The number of families that have rated each destination is included in the search results. Three ratings is the minimum, but some destinations have been rated by dozens of families. Orlando, for example, has been rated by 175 families."

Chuck Montgomery, Pioneer Marketing's research director for destination marketing, said Vacations With Kids is designed to help families find information not only on commonly visited destinations, but also on vacation spots that, while not well known, may be excellent values and fun for the whole family.

"Families will find a number of destinations that aren't top of mind but are excellent values," Montgomery said. "For example, Santa Claus, Ind., received nearly perfect ratings as a destination for kids of all ages. Disney World, as expected, received high marks for its attractions, but the data raise some questions about the value of the destination for the dollars spent and the willingness of families to return frequently."

Montgomery said Pioneer Marketing will continue to survey families via phone and update the site with new information. In addition, Vacations With Kids encourages visitors to the Web site to rate their own vacations by taking a 12-question survey available on the home page.


Selected findings:

• Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Branson, Mo., have very good ratings for families, especially those with children in the 7 - 12 age range.

• Big Sky, Mont., is rated highest as a destination for families, but most of the attractions can be experienced in three or fewer days.

• The District of Columbia and Traverse City, Mich., having increasing satisfaction ratings as families spend more time taking in the available activities.

• Amarillo, Texas, appears to have great attractions for families with young children (1 - 6 years old).