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Top Ten Travel Predictions for 2016

Published January 1, 2016 | By Clark Norton

Tuvalu will become a center for Climate Change Tourism. Photo from Timeless Tuvalu

Peering into my crystal ball for 2016 — which due to budgetary concerns is more like fiberglass this year — I foresee the following top ten developments in the ever-changing, sometimes wacky world of travel:

Try to pare this down to wallet size, please.

A 747 will be diverted from Omaha to New Orleans overnight because passengers in seats A and B get into a spat over who can claim the middle armrest. Oddly, none of the hundreds of passengers aboard complain as they gobble down their jambalaya and beignets.
Spurred by the success of a tour agency named “Toodle-oo Tuvalu” and a boutique hotel called “Sinking Along With the Breeze,” Climate Change Tourism will be huge, in which ghoulish travelers will journey to low-lying Pacific atolls soon to be inundated… Continue reading →

Posted in Airlines, Baby boomer travel, Boat travel, Countries, Cruises, Europe, Family travel, food, Hiking, Islands, Marketing | Tagged baby boomer travelers, carry-on baggage, climate change tourism, European river cruising, Millennials, New Orleans, Spirit Airlines, travel predictions, Tuvalu, whiskey and donuts | 4 Comments

The Big Muddy Meets the Big Easy

Published July 9, 2014 | By Clark Norton

American Cruise Lines’ paddlewheeler Queen of the Mississippi. Photo from American Cruise Lines.

On our recent cruise down the Mississippi River aboard American Cruise Lines’ paddlewheeler Queen of the Mississippi, my wife, Catharine, and I started in Memphis and ended in New Orleans.

In between came stops in ports as large as Baton Rouge, as small as St. Francisville (Louisiana) and as medium-sized as Natchez, Mississippi. We also stopped at several lovely antebellum plantations that illustrated the wealth of the region before the Civil War, built on cotton, sugar and the slaves who worked the fields or served the plantation owners and their families in their homes.

The most striking of the plantations, to me, is called Oak Alley, which we visited the last full day of the cruise before reaching New Orleans. It’s on the west (Louisiana) bank of the Mississippi, where a… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Boat travel, Cities, Cruises | Tagged American Cruise Lines, Louisiana, New Orleans, Oak Alley, Queen of the Mississippi | 4 Comments

Rolling Down the Mississippi with American Cruise Lines

Published June 11, 2014 | By Clark Norton

American Cruise Lines’ paddlewheeler Queen of the Mississippi. Photo from American Cruise Lines.

River cruising is the hottest trend in the cruise world right now, and not just in Europe. It’s also thriving right here in the United States — and the aptly named American Cruise Lines (ACL) is leading the
way.

ACL has ships cruising the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, the Hudson River in upstate New York, the Intracoastal Waterway in the Southeastern U.S., and many more.

But my wife, Catharine, and I were most intrigued by ACL’s cruise down the lower Mississippi — from Memphis to New Orleans — partly because it was an area of the country we hadn’t explored as much as some others, and partly because the ship, the Queen of the Mississippi, was built in the style of an old-fashioned paddle wheeler, allowing us to return to Mark… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Cruises | Tagged American Cruise Lines, baby boomer travel, baby boomer travelers, baby boomers, cruising, Memphis, Natchez, New Orleans, Queen of the Mississippi, river cruising | 2 Comments

Top Poker-Playing Locations in the U.S. for Boomers

Published February 25, 2014 | By Clark Norton

Spurred by saturation TV coverage of poker tournaments that rival more physical sports for high-stakes drama, poker’s popularity has exploded throughout the U.S. in recent years.

And baby boomers are in the thick of the action. But what are the top spots to play in the country? Here are America’s top three poker-playing locations for traveling boomers:

Harrah’s Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.

Tunica, Mississippi

The once impoverished town of Tunica, Mississippi, suddenly turned its fortunes around a few years ago and emerged as America’s third largest casino region (after Las Vegas and Atlantic City).

Located just 30 minutes from Memphis, Tunica offers avant-garde poker rooms, no-limit gaming, and warm Southern hospitality. Harrah’s Hotel and Casino, Hollywood Casino, and Bally’s are among the most popular places to play poker here. The Senior Poker Tour (SPT) at the Horseshoe Casino Tunica has made the town even more appealing. Launched in January… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel | Tagged baby boomer travel, baby boomers, Las Vegas, New Orleans, poker, Tunica Mississippi | 1 Comment

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.