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The Expert in Baby Boomer Travel

Travel Copywriter

Clark Norton

The fabled Inca site Machu Picchu reached by "glamping" in Peru. Photo from Austin Adventures

The fabled Inca site Machu Picchu reached by “glamping” in Peru. Photo from Austin Adventures

In a previous post I talked about “glamping” — a contraction of “glamorous camping” — that seems ideal for baby boomer travelers who still seek adventure but don’t want to sleep on hard ground in tents anymore.

Some lodges have taken up the concept, offering roomy tents with beds in them — a creative piece of marketing — and now Austin Adventures (formerly Austin-Lehman), one of the premier adventure travel companies in the U.S., is offering a Peruvian trip called “Glamping on the Inca Trail,” with five departures in 2014.

It’s a 10-day, nine-night trip that leads from Lima to Machu Picchu via Cusco and the legendary Inca Trail, complete with plenty of high-altitude trekking that provides incredible views and takes you through a number of other Inca sites and an Andean… Continue reading

Scenic Cruises delivers just that and more.

Scenic Cruises delivers just that and more.

Sure, most European river cruises are scenic. But I know of only one company bold enough to capitalize the “S” and “C” and call itself, simply, Scenic Cruises.

That takes confidence, but Scenic Cruises has staked a claim to those capital letters.

How? By setting the pace for innovations in European river cruising — from more spacious viewing areas to all-inclusive pricing to exclusive and stimulating land excursions — this Australian-owned company has helped make river cruising one of the hottest segments of the cruise industry, attracting baby boomers and younger travelers alike.

No wonder: slowly wending your way down some of the world’s most romantic, historic rivers offers a relaxed, intimate perspective on Europe like no other. And unlike sea cruises, you’re always close to land and won’t get seasick.

While there are plenty of reasons to take a European river… Continue reading

One of my favorite online discount cruise travel agencies is Vacations to Go, which always lists hundreds of heavily discounted upcoming cruises from dozens of cruise lines around the world, including both ocean and river cruises.

In one section of the site, Vacations to Go lists special discounts on certain sailings that are only good for passengers aged 55 and over on the day of departure. Just one passenger in each cabin needs to be 55 or over.

When you call a Vacations to Go counselor to book your cruise, be sure to mention your age. The cruise line will require proof of it before giving the discount.

The number to call there is 800-338-4962, but I would advise looking at the website first to see what’s available for your preferred destination, dates, and cruise line(s).

Carnival offers aged 55+ discounts as well. Photo from Carnival Cruise Lines.

Carnival offers aged 55+ discounts as well. Photo from Carnival Cruise Lines.

Note… Continue reading

Ready to cruise? It's National Cruise Vacation Week!

Ready to cruise? It’s National Cruise Vacation Week!

We can’t let National Cruise Vacation Week (October 20-27) pass by without acknowledging some special cruise line deals now being offered by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) cruise agents. (You can find CLIA agents by going here.)

CLIA agents are offering deals from a couple of dozen cruise lines — featuring both ocean and river cruises — that you can still take advantage of this weekend (unless otherwise noted). Check out the deals here.

Complimentary shore tours, onboard credits, discounts, upgrades and reduced deposits are all part of the mix.

 

CLIA is an example of a top-flight marketing organization that represents dozens of cruise lines and thousands of travel agencies, but also provides helpful information to consumers who want to get the best deals and the best experiences out of their cruises. You can access this information at… Continue reading

Mayor Bowers with his Spanish-speaking dog. Photo by Clark Norton

Mayor Bowers with his Spanish-speaking dog. Photo by Clark Norton

Most memorable travel moments revolve around people as well as sights and activities — often chance encounters on the road, sometimes fleeting, other times resulting in more long-lasting friendships.

Here are a few snapshots from my recent stay in and around Roanoke, Virginia, made possible by the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, which sponsored me and a number of other travel writers and photographers so that we could get an overview of the area, dubbed “Virginia’s Blue Ridge.”

In Roanoke, some of my encounters were pre-planned, others serendipitous.

My fellow writers and I were privileged to meet the mayor of the city, David Bowers, who greeted us on an overlook atop Mill Mountain, below the city’s iconic 100-foot-high illuminated star. (Read more about the star here.)

The mayor brought his “Spanish-speaking dog,” who, while not actually… Continue reading

Although I didn’t grow up in the South and have only lived there a few years — in Florida and North Carolina back in the 1970s — I always think of Southern cooking when I think of comfort food.

Biscuits at the Roanoker Restaurant -- fluffy yet filling. Photo by Clark Norton

Biscuits at the Roanoker Restaurant — fluffy yet filling. Photo by Clark Norton

My favorite comfort foods, at least to start the day, are biscuits and sausage gravy (toss in some grits and my bliss is complete). And so it was that I started every day of my recent stay in Roanoke, Virginia, with the very same biscuits and sausage gravy. I was powerless to resist — there they were on restaurant menus, prominently featured, and there they were at the breakfast bar at my Best Western hotel.

Are biscuits and sausage gravy the healthiest foods on the planet? Probably not. But how often am I in Roanoke, Virginia, which,… Continue reading

A pastoral scene near Roanoke, Virginia. Photo by Clark Norton

A pastoral scene near Roanoke, Virginia. Photo by Clark Norton

In my previous post, I talked about my trip last week to the Roanoke, Virginia, area, and what I regard are the smart marketing techniques of the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau by hosting travel writers and photographers from around the U.S. and Canada to experience an area they might otherwise not visit.

The trip was organized by the Florida-based public relations firm Geiger & Associates, who work out every activity down to the minute and somehow manage not to lose any writers — who rank right up there with cats in the “herding difficulty” scale — along the way.

Now I want to detail some things I learned about Roanoke and surroundings — well branded as “Virginia’s Blue Ridge” —  that might be of interest to baby boomer travelers.

So in no particular order, here… Continue reading

Downtown Roanoke's historic center is just the beginning of what the area has to offer visitors. Photo by Clark Norton

Downtown Roanoke’s historic center is just the beginning of what the area has to offer visitors. Photo by Clark Norton

Last week I spent several days in and around Roanoke, Virginia, hosted by the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau. The bureau brought in 19 travel writers and photographers from around the U.S. and Canada to discover what the area had to offer and, ideally, to write about it.

This is smart marketing. Publications large and small in states and provinces as diverse as California and Massachusetts, Colorado and Connecticut, Alberta and Ontario will carry travel articles about the Roanoke region that otherwise would never appear (most of the writers had never been there before). Some of the journalists were baby boomers, others were younger or older, so they’ll chronicle the destination from a variety of perspectives.

The press trip was organized by Geiger and Associates, a Tallahassee, Florida-based… Continue reading

One of the scenic reasons why Fijians -- and visitors -- may be happy. Photo by Clark Norton

One of the scenic reasons why Fijians — and visitors — may be happy. Photo by Clark Norton

Tourism Fiji recently announced a new branding campaign based on the claim that the Pacific island nation is the happiest place on earth.

The new  Tourism Fiji slogan is “Fiji — where happiness finds you.” Tourism Fiji CEO Rick Hamilton noted the irony that while the “whole world is continually looking for happiness, actually it’s Fijians, the people who are trying the least, who have it the most.”

The new branding is based on a 2011 survey called the WinGallup Global Barometer of Happiness. The Fijian survey was conducted for WinGallup by the Tebbutt Research Group, while different groups surveyed 57 other nations around the world.

In Fiji, almost nine out of ten people said they were happy, compared to just 53 percent of the entire global sample who said they… Continue reading

CityMove makes sure its online reviews are on the up and up.

CityMove makes sure its online reviews are on the up and up.

Recently I’ve written about the problems that fake and fraudulent consumer travel reviews — of hotels, restaurants, attractions and the like, called “astroturfing” — are causing readers of online sites who are trying to get honest information while planning their trips or while on the road.

The New York State attorney general is even handing out fines for such underhanded practices as company owners hiring cheap overseas labor to write positive “reviews” of places they’ve never been, or asking their employees to give competitors’ companies bad reviews, or just writing (rave) reviews of their own establishments themselves.

Since surveys have shown that consumers place a high degree of trust in online customer reviews, it’s essential that they be as accurate and unbiased as possible.

With many baby boomers thinking of relocating upon retirement (and thousands are now reaching… Continue reading

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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.

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