Acura Classic to Be Televised Nationally
On the Fox Network
Parental guilt is becoming more powerful than ever, and it’s fueling a boom in the family travel niche market, said Peter Yesawich of Florida-based marketing firm Yesawich Pepperdine & Brown.
Yesawich’s company, which focuses on tourism, has been studying family travel since 1999.
This year’s findings were presented at a conference on family travel that took place earlier this month at the Hyatt Regency Islandia. The conference, organized by the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, was attended by 135 people.
According to Yesawich, major issues within family travel are parental guilt and time poverty. For instance, 59 percent of all American households with children under age 18 have both parents working. In 1976, it was 29 percent.
Parents are increasingly using vacation travel to reconnect with their kids, Yesawich said.
Among other trends was that the Internet was the primary tool used by families to select a vacation site. Ninety-two percent of the family households turn to the ‘Net, compared to 46 percent of the country’s average household. (Respondents to the Yesawich survey included 284 adults who travel with their kids and 424 children between the ages of 6 and 17.)
Other main points:
beach and theme parks were the most popular family vacations; safety was important, as was “seeing new things;” and hotel amenities such as pools, arcades and good restaurants were a priority to kids.
San Diego was ninth on a list of top family travel destinations. The top five were: the national parks; Orlando, Fla.; Hawaiian out islands, which include Maui, Kauai and the big island of Hawaii; Washington, D.C.; and Honolulu.
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Checking In:
The 2001 Acura Classic, which will be held at the La Costa Resort & Spa later this summer, will again bring in some national television attention. The Fox Network will broadcast the finals on Aug. 5, a Sunday, and the quarterfinals and semifinals will air on Fox Sports Net. Mille Fleurs will be coming to a magazine stand near you , or anywhere else across the country. According to Anne Marie Niland, a spokeswoman for the restaurant, it will be featured this summer in Gourmet magazine. Photos were taken late last month. A sales tour will bring Nepal tourism leaders to San Diego next month. The meetings will take place June 12 at the San Diego Zoo. This year, the tour begins with New York City, Boston and Baltimore and ends with Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose.
Link Of The Irish:
San Diego’s about to get another dose of Ireland, chain-style. In a development agreement, Primrose Food Services of California Inc. has bought Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern in Mission Valley and plans to open six others in the county by 2006.
San Bernardino-based Primrose bought the local Bennigan’s from its founding company, Metromedia Restaurant Group, which is based in Texas, and also owns Steak and Ale, Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed. Both Metromedia and Primrose are privately owned.
Primrose is focused on opening Bennigan’s in Glendale later this year. Primrose’s San Diego activities reportedly include adjusting the Mission Valley Bennigan’s to the new ownership and scouting for new locations for the other restaurants.
The deadline for the next tourism & hospitality column is May 31. Rodrigues can be reached at (858) 277-6359, Ext. 107, or via e-mail at trodrigues@sdbj.com.
