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Savvy kids take control

Friday, February 12, 2010

Source: Catherine Deshayes

Parents are becoming increasingly reliant on their internet-savvy children to help pick out the next family holiday destination according to recent statistics...

Once the prerogative of the parents, choosing a holiday spot is being left to the kids who are more adept at searching for bargains on the web and finding family-friendly activities.

Figures show that one in four laptop-loving children chose the family break last year with the average 14-year-old boy more likely than their dad to decide the whats, wheres and whens of the trip.

Children are often more confident navigating the internet than their parents, using a variety of different social networking, comparison and review sites to select a trip - often a foreign concept for older generations.

And the internet activity does not stop once the holiday is booked. More than half of teens surveyed said they also spent up to an hour and a half a day on the internet on holiday.

Important Facebook updates and chats with friends were a priority, but so was researching holiday activities for the family.

More than two in three consult the internet about what to do on holiday compared to just 18 per cent who would instead look at a guidebook.

The web has become so important to children that one in four said the internet was the most important feature in a hotel room, coming above TV or even free food.

However, parents seem to be comfortable with their children's online habits as the poll revealed more than two thirds are happy they still want to come on family holidays.

Tim Wade, of Best Western, said: "We all know how teenagers love the internet, but we were still surprised by these survey results. It shows how important it is to offer internet for free as it is so key to every family's holiday."

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk