Baby boomer travel
Boomers Atop Masada in Israel. Photo by Clark Norton
Baby boomers — the most-traveled generation in history — are ready to hit the road in record numbers as they gain more leisure time in retirement, but are you ready for them?
Boomers account for a third of all leisure trips taken and four-fifths of all money spent on luxury travel, yet many tour operators either take them for granted or ignore them altogether. One reason might be that they don’t know what makes boomers tick.
Of course, not all boomers — born between 1946 and 1964 — are alike or think alike, but in general (like all generations) they have some key characteristics in common.
Here are five ways to attract more boomers — and their spending power — to your tours:
1. Avoid the terms “seniors,” “elder” or any implications that boomers are “old.” Boomers may be aging, but… Continue reading
Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro. Is the beauty enough to overcome the obstacles?
The last two times I visited Brazil, I loved lazing on the beaches of Rio, cruising down the Amazon, hiking through the rainforests and touring the remarkable opera house in Manaus.
But jumping through the bureaucratic hoops to get there in the first place almost convinced me I’d never make it down. Brazil seems to do everything it can to discourage American visitors by making visas expensive and annoying to get.
The regulations keep changing. One time I had to wait in a long line at the Brazilian consulate in New York City, then go next door to a particular bank to deposit $100 cash and get a receipt for same, then return to stand in another long line to hand that in along with my completed visa application, only to be told I would have… Continue reading
Baby boomers birding in the Caribbean. Photo from Carefree Birding
Many baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s and were nurtured in the anti-war, civil rights and environmental movements have retained a good deal of their youthful idealism throughout their lives.
Surveys, including my own research, have shown that boomers in general are more likely to choose a particular tour operator if that operator gives something back to the localities they visit — whether to schools or health clinics in Nepal, conservation efforts in Kenya, environmental clean-up in Ecuador or other causes or charities.
Ken Burgener and Linda Warschauer, who run Carefree Birding birding cruises out of their Florida office, make it a practice to donate all the money they would otherwise make in profit from shore excursions during their cruises to various birding-related causes in port.
In Roatan, Honduras, for example, they donated the money… Continue reading
Heading off into the sunset — that’s where you’ll find today’s boomers. Photo by Lia Norton
Like most consumers, baby boomers are value conscious: When they travel, they want to receive the best value for their money.
And they’re willing to spend top dollar to get it.
If that sounds contradictory, well, it makes perfect sense to most baby boomers.
Boomers — the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 (and this doesn’t even count the millions more born in Canada, the UK, Australia and other English-speaking baby boom countries of that era) — control 70 percent of the disposable income in the United States. And they purchase 80 percent of luxury travel.
Think about that: 80 percent. Is that a market you ca afford to ignore?
Many seniors — those born before 1946 — are also affluent. The difference is that boomers — unlike Depression- and World… Continue reading
Savvy tour operators and destination marketers are taking aim at a big newly emerging travel force: baby boomers traveling with their grandchildren.
Leading edge baby boomers, reaching age 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day, are finding themselves with more time to travel, and affluent baby boomers are ready to both spend some quality time on the road with their grandkids and spend the money necessary to make sure everyone has a memorable trip.
In a report prepared for lastminute.com, the Future Foundation identified GranTravel, as they called it, as one of the key new trends in travel and leisure. The foundation described “a new generation of active grandparents who travel with their grandchildren, making the most of their free time and spending power, while the parents continue to work.”
Austin Adventures offers a family adventure trip to the Grand Canyon. Photo from the National Park Service
Traveling with… Continue reading
Former Carnival CEO Bob Dickinson
According to a recent Harris poll, cruising has taken a serious hit in the wake of the Carnival Triumph’s power failure at sea, which received saturation coverage in the media. The public has less trust in cruises, perceives the quality of cruising in a more negative light, and is less likely to book a cruise now.
It also regards air travel as safer than cruising, the poll says.
While the results were particularly bad for Carnival, they also extended in varying degrees to other cruise lines the poll tested.
Carnival is now working to regain its tarnished reputation. Carnival Corp. — which owns not just Carnival Cruise Lines but several other lines including Holland America, Princess, Costa, Cunard and Seabourn — has hired Carnival’s former CEO, Bob Dickinson, as a consultant to “reassess the brands.” Dickinson is a legend in the industry and as… Continue reading
Universal Studios Hollywood logo — courtesy of Universal Studios
Universal Studios Hollywood theme park is now aggressively marketing $299 “V.I.P. Experience” passes that allow users to skip to the front of lines — avoiding waits that can sometimes seem interminable.
According to this June 10 New York Times piece, V.I.P.s also have access to valet parking and parts of the studio’s normally closed back lot, are treated to rides on special escorted trolleys, and are fed two gourmet meals (breakfast and lunch). The park even throws in some hand sanitizer, a poncho to stay dry and some mints.
If you just want to get to the front of lines or shows without waiting, you can shell out $149 ($169 in peak summer), which is considerably more than the already-steep regular one-day admission price of $84.
The allure of not standing in 45-minute lines on hot summer… Continue reading
The Viking Europe — photo from Viking River Cruises
In a previous post I talked about how Viking River Cruises, the world’s largest river cruise line, is branching out into the realm of ocean cruising, using much the same successful model they’ve used to build a river cruise empire around the globe.
Today I want to talk about the customers they’ve built that river cruise empire around: baby boomers.
In an informative article in Travel Weekly, detailing a press conference that marked the naming of ten new Viking Longships this spring, Viking’s chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen was blunt about his target market: “people with some curiosity, who have worked hard and earned some money. They haven’t had time to see these places — and not just see, but experience the culture. They’re grown-up people. They speak English. They are 55-plus.”
Hagen then continued to say, “We have… Continue reading
Alice’s Wonderland logo — courtesy of Alice’s Wonderland
Earlier this week I received e-mailed birthday greetings from a car dealer, my dentist, a local restaurant and a store specializing in outdoor clothing and gear, all businesses I have patronized at least once in the past.
While none of these caught my attention as much as, say, the e-cards and e-mails I got from family and friends, they did give me a few momentary warm and fuzzy feelings about these various businesses (even my dentist). But are they more likely to get my repeat business because of them?
Maybe, maybe not. At the very least, they reminded me that they exist, and that’s a start. Only one of them, though, gave me a further incentive to actually pay a visit, and that was the outdoor gear store, which included a printable coupon for $15 off purchases to spend during my… Continue reading
Weaving in Canyon de Chelly — Photo by Jim Harrison, courtesy of Road Scholar
In 1975, two globe-trotting American educators formed a not-for-profit organization called Elderhostel, which specialized in offering educational programs and tours for older folks who appreciated both traveling and lifelong learning opportunities. The name “Elderhostel” was a play on the youth hostel concept, popular in Europe, which one of the two had experienced during his backpack-carrying wanderings.
Elderhostel trips, which combined various on-the-road classes with inexpensive lodgings, soon branched out from the U.S. into international travel, emphasizing learning about other cultures and their history and people through lectures, excursions and field trips.
While the organization – now nearing 40 years old – has been a success, it became increasingly clear that the name “Elderhostel” was becoming a drag on its growth. Baby boomers – who as they aged were becoming the key target demographic for Elderhostel trips… Continue reading
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