The number of American parents traveling with children for business and pleasure continues to rise. To meet this growing demand, many hotels and travel agents try to attract families with packages and discounts. Today, however, many parents are seeking a more personalized service to assist them in planning their family vacation to global destinations. Ciao Bambino, a full service custom travel consultancy founded by family travel specialist, Amie O'Shaughnessy, makes it easy for parents to travel to incredible destinations with babies, toddlers, and young children.

Ciao Bambino has successfully created a new hybrid of travel consultancy. Ciao Bambino is not a travel agency, and not simply a tour operator. The company is establishing a significant market share by focusing on the increasing population of new parents that have enjoyed personal and professional travel throughout their careers. This audience wants to continue to travel to global destinations, thus opening the doors to experiential learning for their young children.

While the family travel market is experiencing a remarkable growth spurt, the industry is not equipped to offer the unique services necessary for a family to travel safely and comfortably to international destinations. "As a mother who travels extensively, I understand the fragile line between a re-location of the home environment, and a true vacation," said O'Shaughnessy. Ciao Bambino creates custom family-focused itineraries to Italy using their exclusive list of hand selected properties and provides essential resources including equipment rental and access to qualified childcare. "Why start our business with a focus on family travel to Italy? It's simple…everyone loves Italy and Italians love children. It is a fantastic destination for families that want a taste of everything and has the support infrastructure parents need to feel comfortable when traveling with young children," added O'Shaughnessy.

Ciao Bambino partners with properties that make it possible for parents and children to appreciate incredible destinations in Italy. Because Ciao Bambino's Property Selection Process is family focused, clients have an ideal, fully equipped home base with maximum flexibility to choose on-site relaxation or local excursions with or without the kids. Ciao Bambino also partners with guides specializing in custom, interesting activities including private city tours, cooking and art classes, wine tasting, biking, trekking, and creative family excursions.

Ciao Bambino works directly with each client and takes into consideration many of the elements of family dynamics and travel preferences that most traditional travel agents ignore. When a client works with Ciao Bambino they gain access to a full range of personalized services. A selection of these services might include: accommodation selection, ground transportation assistance, on-site activities and private guides, equipment rental of strollers, cribs, car seats, local mobile phones, access to qualified nannies, and critical information around medical care and other important resources.