LONDON, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Chester Zoo Claims top Spot as Britain's Most Searched-for Attraction

- Surge in Searches for the Answer to Family Days out on Ask.com Reveals
our Plans for the Weekend

Britain's zoos can bank on a rush of business this weekend - as families
use the Internet to help plan their day-trip outings.

Nine of the most searched-for Bank Holiday family days out in the UK are
zoos, according to leading search engine Ask.com.

And while London dominates the top search results - five out of the top
ten attractions are in the capital - it's Chester Zoo that wins the top spot
as Britain's most searched-for Bank Holiday attraction, beating London Zoo
into second place.

This being Britain, however, it seems we've also been making provisions
for bad weather - just in case the forecasters are proved right.

Indoor venues including the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum
and the Imperial War Museum figure highly in the list of star attractions.

Mums and dads at a loss with what to do with the kids this weekend have
turned to the Internet.

"We've seen a surge in searches for family days out and specific queries
related to opening times, ticket prices and travel directions," said Ask.com
Managing Director Cesar Mascaraque.

"It's a sign of our times - we used to have to phone attractions up and
listen to a recorded message take forever to tell you when they were open and
how much a ticket was. These days people just start up the computer and find
out everything they want to know in a couple of clicks."

Museums figure highly in the list of the top 25 searched for days out,
with the Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, London Transport Museum,
Beaulieu Motor Museum and Brooklands Museum all featuring on Britain's most
searched for Bank Holiday destination list.

And theme parks are also attracting their share of traffic. Alton Towers
is the most searched for theme park in the UK, followed by Blackpool Pleasure
Beach, Thorpe Park and Windsor's Legoland.

The advent of the Internet has seen a new marketing tool in the quest for
attracting visitors:

"Tourist attractions are growing ever more sophisticated in how they
present information to the public. People are actively turning to the net to
discover details they would traditionally have had to use the phone for. So
it's massively important to any business to make sure that when people
search, they find a good website with all the info people need," said Cesar.

Britain's Top 25 Bank Holiday Destinations.

Listed according to number of specific search requests to Ask.com:

1. Chester Zoo
    2. London Zoo
    3. Natural History Museum
    4. Alton Towers
    5. Warwick Castle
    6. Science Museum
    7. Imperial War Museum
    8. Edinburgh Zoo
    9. Tate Modern
    10. Blackpool Pleasure Beach
    11. Whipsnade Zoo
    12. Thorpe Park
    13. Victoria and Albert Museum
    14. Bristol Zoo
    15. Eden Project
    16. Blackpool Zoo
    17. Legoland
    18. London Transport Museum
    19. Leeds Castle
    20. Paignton Zoo
    21. Beaulieu Motor Museum
    22. Brooklands Museum
    23. Howletts Zoo
    24. Dudley Zoo
    25. Castle Howard



About Ask.com:

A leading search engine on the Web, Ask.com combines world-class search
technology with one-of-a-kind search tools to help people get what they are
looking for faster. Ask.com sites include Ask.com U.S.(www.Ask.com), Ask.com
Deutschland, Ask.com Espana, Ask.com France, Ask.com Italia, Ask.com Japan,
Ask.com Nederland and Ask.com UK. Additionally, Ask.com syndicates its search
technology and advertising units to a network of affiliate partners. Ask.com
is a division of IAC Search & Media, a wholly owned business of IAC (NASDAQ:
IACI).