Nine weeks and counting until school ends and summer vacation begins. I know this because my kindergartner recently commandeered my black Sharpie and is diligently drawing huge “Xs” on my calendar in anticipation of the end of the school year.
My daughter has already created a long list of places she wants to visit this summer. Most of them are family favorites, including Six Flags Great America, the water park, the Children’s Museum, Summerfest, the State Fair and Chicago.
I typically take her list and try to accommodate her wishes after I view our family calendar and budget. Apparently, I am not alone in executing this method of family vacation planning.
According to a recent survey, mothers are the ones who make the majority of decisions about family vacation spending, which is why many vacation hot spots are looking to sway mom more than any other member of the household.
Tourism professionals say they have shaped their 2010 marketing budgets to take advantage of this new trend. Even Disney execs are reportedly catering to mom’s sensibility by offering money-saving package deals. The House of Mouse’s marketing managers say moms are the “organizers” of the family and “everybody looks up to mom to get the travel plans done.”
In the coming weeks expect to see an increased number of television and print ads geared toward moms, as tourist spots target the official family vacation planner. Frankly, I’d like to see one of the new commercials because all the moms I know, who are the vacation planners in the family, tend to look for getaways that cater to their children… and not themselves. After all, a vacation is not a vacation if you are dealing with cranky kids complaining about how bored they are.
So mom can wear the crown of “Official Vacation Planner,” but when it comes down to it, the kids are ultimately in control of where the clan travels.
Who is the vacation planner in your house?