Our mission: make travel better
for kids everywhere
We Research, Recognize and Verify KID friendly travel,
starting with Hotels, expanding to
Cruises & Airlines.
Guided by the past, looking toward the future of family travel.
Our Mission
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Our vision
At International Kids Friendly Travel (IKFT), we exist so every trip can become a memory for a child, from babies and toddlers to teens, regardless of ability or family structure. We help families travel with confidence by highlighting what already works and by guiding operators to make practical, low-cost improvements that matter. Our work combines careful online evidence, inclusive thinking, and rigorous onsite verification so that parents, guardians and grandparents can choose places that are fun, welcoming and practical for families, and so that operators gain clear, prioritized steps to improve their service for children and people with disabilities. We aim to encourage higher standards in kids friendly travel. We provide transparent, independent recognition to help families travel with confidence and to support the travel industry in improving the experience of its youngest guests.
Our vision is to clarify what family/kids-friendly travel truly means. IKFT™ works to make the experience of traveling with children easier to understand, more transparent, and ultimately more comfortable for all.
We study what genuinely supports families; from room design and food variety to play, rest, and accessibility and translate those findings into clear, evidence-based indicators. The IKFT Recognized level acknowledges providers that meet the basic visible standards identified through these checks, while higher Verified levels involve direct, onsite verification by trained IKFT reviewers. Kids-first is NOT indulgence. It is thoughtful design, practical services, and inclusive planning that allow families to travel with confidence and peace of mind. IKFT™ continues to promote awareness, responsibility, and kindness across the travel industry, encouraging progress without commercial influence. Each assessment is aligned to the hotel’s star category, ensuring fair comparison across 3★, 4★ and 5★ properties.
Born from Experience
IKFT™ wasn’t created in a boardroom. It grew out of decades of real world travel, from childhood adventures across cities and coastlines to navigating the realities of family trips with children of our own.
After thousands of stays across every category, we recognized the same pattern everywhere: families need trustworthy, independent information about what truly works for kids.
That experience became the foundation for a measurable IKFT™ standard, turning uncertainty into clarity and stress into family joy. Because every journey can help a child see the world differently.
Driven by Expertise
International Kids Friendly Travel, IKFT, evaluations draw on a diverse international team of experts. This includes insights from travel industry analysts, data specialists, hospitality operations consultants, child psychologists, specialists in child protection protocols and accessibility standards, experienced onsite evaluators, and technology professionals. All IKFT reviewers undergo structured training in child focused evaluation and inclusive observation methods.
This breadth of knowledge ensures our proprietary Kidspecs are comprehensive and our assessment process is conducted with exceptional rigor and understanding."
Powered by Insight.
As IKFT grows, we integrate new technologies, including selective use of AI-assisted review tools and digital evidence mapping, to complement our human expertise. These technologies never replace human judgment but help identify patterns, track improvements, and enhance transparency over time.
"Why This Matters":
Families don’t travel for checklists, they travel for moments:
a first splash in a pool, a bedtime story in a welcoming room, a meal that’s calm when a toddler is tired, a properly fitted stair gate, a friendly staff member who understands a child’s pace... For parents, guardians, and grandparents, the difference between a trip of a lifetime and a trip of stress lies in the details. But finding trustworthy information in a sea of sponsored posts and generic reviews is a challenge. We exist to work to replace that uncertainty with genuine confidence.. We design our checks and advice to create more of those moments... and to remove the invisible frictions that make travel stressful.
From those insights emerge our three guiding principles
Child-first: Every decision starts with the child’s wellbeing and delight.
Inclusive: We assess accessibility, multi generational needs and universal design.
Actionable: Our reports tell operators what to fix first — low cost, high impact.
What we do
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We scan public evidence to award IKFT Recognized™ status.
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We offer IKFT VERIFIED™ onsite audits for operators seeking independent verification and improvement insight.
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We publish clear, practical guidance and low-cost recommendations that improve children’s experiences immediately.
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We create a searchable key for kids-friendly travel so families can find the right stay for their needs.
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Future phases will introduce continuous assurance tools and machine readable Kids Factsheets™, making family friendly data easier to access, compare, and trust.
All evaluations are independent of commercial influence.
HOW?
1. Integrity First. While some IKFT services are paid, our conclusions and badge outcomes remain fully independent and NOT for sale. IKFT’s evaluations combine documented evidence, onsite observation, and live feedback from families like YOU, because real experiences help identify what truly works for children. When a hotel requests a Verified review, IKFT checks documentation, conducts live evaluations, and compares them with verified public and guest feedback. Outcomes may upgrade, remain unchanged, or downgrade a property if public information proves inaccurate. IKFT may also suspend or revoke recognitions.
2. Child-Centric. For the IKFT VERIFIED™ onsite audits Our 250+ Kidspecs™ criteria cover every aspect of a child’s experience and is designed with a child’s comfort, inclusion, and wellbeing.
3. Inclusion by Design. International Kids Friendly Travel believes travel is for every child. Our assessments include a dedicated focus on accessibility for children with disabilities.
Accessibility & Inclusion: Our Commitment.
We aim to review accessibility with the same attention we give to play: specific and practical. We observe ramps, accessible bathrooms, staff awareness, sensory spaces, and communication tools for families with children who have disabilities. We seek to promote meaningful and lasting improvements
Accessibility is assessed through field checks on mobility access, sensory comfort, and staff communication skills.
Meet Our Team
And a Word from Our Board of Directors...
Sterling Hawke
Chief Details Officer
Portia Keyes
Director of Third Impressions
Dr. Alma Weaver
Head of Comfort & Cuddles
Our true north is guided by the most demanding board in the world: the children themselves. Their needs set our agenda. Their comfort and joy are our key performance indicators.
Our team prefers and needs to stay behind the scenes letting our work speak for itself!
Our work brings together independent analysts, onsite reviewers, accessibility advisors, and editorial support across our starting markets.
IKFT operates independently from any hotel group or tourism board.