With nearly 10,845 Baby Boomers reaching age 65 daily during 2018, a transformative portrait of retirement travel is emerging.
Boomers view travel as fundamental to their next chapter, a time they anticipate being the most enjoyable and liberating of their lives. They have an annual travel spending power of $120 billion. (Skift) The opportunities for suppliers of travel experiences have never been greater.
According to Age Wave and Merrill Lynch, Boomer retirees will celebrate over 125 billion hours of potential leisure time in 2018.
Concerning travel, their primary goals include staying healthy (83 percent), intergenerational family connections (53 percent), “peak experiences” (48 percent), and adventure (45 percent). (Age Wave) More than 50 percent of Boomer travelers choose a destination based on its cultural value. (TripAdvisor) They seek educational enrichment with every tour decision.
Recent consumer research has disclosed other salient business facts about the future of Boomer travel:
- Ninety-nine percent of Boomers will take at least one leisure trip in 2018, with an average of five or more trips expected throughout the year (AARP);
- “Bucket List” trips are the most significant motivation for international travel (AARP;
- Fifty-two percent say they would like to visit specific cities or towns;
- Boomers have an average of eight places they hope to visit;
- A laid-back and relaxing vacation is the most desired type of trip (AARP);
- Boomers are slightly more likely to prefer domestic travel (53 percent) to international destinations (47 percent).
While these statistics help validate a compelling case for targeting Boomers, one significant question remains: “How can travel marketers, tour operators, and destinations take advantage of this unprecedented marketing opportunity through strategic brand development and competitive differentiation?”
As a travel industry veteran with career experience marketing resorts, hotels, and destinations, my keynote speeches present compelling and actionable strategies to propel the travel industry to the next level of business success.
Other questions answered during my presentations include:
- What are the salient business facts about Boomer travel today that justify a substantial generational marketing focus by tour operators, destination managers, and travel planners?
- What are some of the most successful strategies and tactics employing generational marketing, and how can these insights be applied specifically to tour and travel offerings?
- What are the future Boomer trends and opportunities that will continue to transform travel for the next twenty years?
Client reactions to these travel industry presentations:
“I can’t thank you enough for adding the fuel to our marketing planning meeting. Feedback on your presentation and material was very good, both your content and the fact that you did such a good job integrating your material with our products. It truly was a practical connection between customer insights and marketing action.”
— Steve Born, Vice President of Marketing, Globus Family of Brands
“Based on extensive and prolific attendee accolades received for the Educational Travel Consortium, the conference was an unqualified success. Brent Green’s contribution hugely facilitated this success, and helped us raise the bar for another great ETC meeting experience. His wonderful encore performance at ETC … received a 4.68 rating out of a possible 5.0. Our colleagues very much enjoyed his presence. He brought an ‘A Game’ to ETC and is a consummate professional. I have very much enjoyed working with him over these past years. It has been a pleasure and honor.”
— Mara DelliPriscoli, founder of the Educational Travel Consortium
Contact me for more information about these transformative travel industry marketing presentations.
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