No Age Barrier For Travelers
Exercise and Diet. Which is most important?
Falling Age Barriers for Senior Travelers
The age barrier for senior travel is going up all the time. Companies that book and organize senior travel excursion are often contacted by people in their 70’s, 80’s, 90’s to book excursions. The experienced travel coordinators have learned how to plan the trips for the right age bracket.
Mark Hoffman of Sports Leisure Vacations says his audience has always been a mature audience since their business started over 30 years ago and it has skewed older as time has gone on, because people are living to an older age and their health is better later in life. So he says: “We see people who now are traveling deep into their 80’s or well even into their 90‘s. That is not uncommon.”
He has also finds that the age bracket sometimes determines what types of trips that people take, because of the limitations on their time. His clients in their 50’s or 60‘s for example are still working and dabble by doing day trips and things like that. So he says his firm plans trips accordingly. The younger travelers tend to be more involved, they tend to have more things in their lives and don’t have as much time for leisure activities.
People, who are in their 50’s and 60’s. Andy we are seeing people more technology savvy perhaps, than we’ve ever seen travelers before. I mean that’s the way of the world. So, we are now seeing iPads, and Kindles, and smart phones show up on motor coaches. So, people have a lot more information at their fingertips than they used to, which really changes the way a tour operates.
Hoffman adds his older clients the people in their 70’s, 80’s, perhaps 90’s, are looking more for security, and they are looking for an itinerary that isn’t too strenuous. I always tell people that when they are looking at itineraries, “Look for things that have multiple night stays.” So a pace of a tour can easily be identified by how it is scheduled. For example if it’s an eight night tour, and they stay 2 nights in the same location that is six multiple night stays, only two nights of one night stays. That will be very leisurely itinerary. On the flip side, if you found an itinerary that’s 8 nights and every night you are in a different hotel, than that means that is going to be a little bit stronger, a little more strenuous itinerary without looking at anything else that’s involved. There is going to be a lot more moving around. So that might appeal more to someone who is young and perhaps has better stamina and was more able to tolerate that type of busy itinerary.
Staying on the age factor for senior travel, he says: “One of the challenges we have is that we are finding our demographic is shifting and it is splitting in two distinct groups. We refer to them as the “junior” seniors and “senior” seniors and that probably divides at age 70 maybe. And one of the realities that we face is that somebody who is 58 years old doesn’t want to travel with people their parents age. So, the person who is 58 may not want the same thing as someone who is 80, based on the pace of the itinerary and the types of the things that you do.”
He adds: “Let’s face it, as you get older you find that your stamina is going to wear out, you know. You will start getting out at 7 o’clock in the morning, just like you always did, but by 2.30 or 3 in the afternoon you may be saying, that’s about it for major projects for the day. Whereas somebody who is younger is able to go at a longer period.”
What Hoffman and his firm does for senior travelers is develop itineraries that creates a half or two thirds of organized activity, then followed by free time that places people where they can, perhaps walk to an attraction, maybe across the street or just up the block or use public transportation to facilitate getting people to an added attraction or some people might choose to peel off. There might be a specialty attraction like a museum that appeals to a special type of interest: A quilting museum, or baseball game, museum, or something like that. Plus on any given day if you take a group of 30 people, somebody will feel a little bit under the weather or will welcome the opportunity to have a break.
“So, we are creating itineraries that give people more flexibility. That way the trip is acceptable to people of different ages and different stamina and physical abilities,” he adds.
In this day of senior travel, their is no limit to opportunities so it’s a matter of finding a travel coordinator who understands the need of senior travelers and can find the right activities to fit your age, energy and interests.
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