Senior Tourism – Did you know, that in our lifetime, we will never see another demographic that has as much disposable cash to spend and as much free time as our current seniors?
Between us at MyTravelResearch.com, we have interviewed, researched, and ‘studied’ thousands of seniors and their travelling habits. How they plan, their pain points, and what excites them. They have big dreams and a bucket list to smash.
Cringe-Worthy Seniors Travel Image
Yet, I still see the travel industry not really taking them seriously. Still talking to cringe-worthy stereotypes that most seniors cannot really relate to – or more importantly, ‘see’. I only see a smattering of travel brands truly connecting with this market with meaningful marketing messages.
The senior tourism market segment is often looking for immersive and authentic experiences and more importantly, looking to learn. Seniors come with a natural intrigue and a zest for life that we rarely see in any other segment of the market.
It is time to remind ourselves and possibly a few Gen Y advertising account managers that this is the generation that forged societal change like no other generation in living memory. Today’s seniors were a product of ‘the swinging sixties and the seventies. They were a generation that saw liberated sexual experiences, the pill, the rise in feminism, all sorts of experimentation with substances, and new freedom never experienced before. They were wild, adventurous, and exploratory. Many are looking to rekindle the fire through travel adventures once the kids leave home.
Today’s seniors were our first backpackers, The Lonely Planet generation, exploring corners of the globe way before the internet could tell us what was there or our friends on social media could tell us it was cool or not.
It was a long time before Tripadvisor and review sites. They actually had to go to a destination to find out what was there.
Today’s travelling seniors deserve travel kudos and respect – and don’t call them seniors…unless there is a nice discount involved – you may discreetly mention it then.
How to market to seniors?
Here are our top changes that you can make to your senior tourism marketing campaign.
-
Use ageless marketing, particularly with imagery.
Seniors don’t think they are seniors and therefore do not relate to images of seniors or text that talks to seniors. Aged-based marketing is increasingly counterproductive in senior tourism as age does not define values, attitudes, or behaviours. Also, ageless marketing reaches and talks to a broader audience because it is not exclusionary.
Ageless marketing uses universal core values like:-
- Love
- Friendship
- Loyalty
- Altruism
- Dreams personal growth
- Fitness
-
-
Pricing
Contrary to popular myth, the senior traveller is not obsessed with finding the cheapest of everything. They are very clear about this. This market is well researched – after they have plenty of time on their hands and often they find as much pleasure in research as they do in the holiday itself. When they do their research, they are looking for value for money – this could be anything from travelling in off-peak periods with the added benefit of fewer children around to perhaps value-add deals, bonus night offers, food and beverage deals, late check-out, or deals with other local operators.
Insight to Action: Focus on value rather than sell than price – value is quality for money well spent. The price must stay within the range of competition BUT value is more persuasive.
-
How do seniors use search engines?
Like everyone else. It is not necessary to use the term senior on your site unless you are referring to a discount in your pricing, they will then happily become senior. The secret is to learn to talk to a mindset and attitude rather than an age group. If you are paying big bucks for the term “Seniors Travel” through Adwords or any sort of pay-per-click campaign, think again. Those who do actually include the search term ‘senior’ tend to be cheap and will have a very – low conversion.
MTR Insight To Action: Too much use of the word senior becomes alienating and offputting to the broader market. Use discreetly when referring to pricing only.
-
Don’t alienate through language and words.
In her book “Turning Silver into Gold” Mary J Furlong tells us that seniors are “Less interested in acquiring material assets, more interested in acquiring life-changing experiences”. This is particularly the case when it comes to travel and must be taken note of in your senior tourism marketing agenda.
Language has never been more important in marketing to seniors. As a marketer to need to leverage internal needs such as:
-
-
- Relationship facilitation and reconnection “Get to know your husband again”
- Enrichment and improving oneself “You now have the time to learn”
- Health and wellness travel “This is your time”
- Having fun. “You have done the hard yards, kids are gone – you owe it to yourself”
-
-
-
Market to Single Seniors.
We have seen rapid growth in senior singles wanting to travel. The majority are women. They may be newly divorced or newly widowed. We have often come across a married single senior whose husband or partner has no interest in travel.
Often they have been inspired to travel solo by others. They may have always wanted to travel but never had anyone to travel with. This now is less of a concern.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not the single supplement that is the most important factor. Many of them are willing to make that trade-off being fully aware that there are now plenty of operators and companies catering to this market – cruise lines, tours, hostels, etc. It is important to appeal to a sense of security. Common single seniors’ pain points include:
-
- “I have no one to sit at the dinner table with”
- “It will be full of happily married couples and I will be the only single one there”
- “I am self-conscious – for this generation, it is hard to be single and proud”
- “Will I be safe travelling on my own?”
MTR Insights to Action: Talk to the single seniors. Can you help solve the single senior’s pain points? Talk about these on your websites and promotions. Be subtle but show them you understand. They will reward you through loyalty and word of mouth.
From a marketer’s perspective, we believe seniors are very sexy indeed – just don’t call them seniors! But broadly speaking, they are attracted to many of the same experiences as the broader travelling community. They just have more time and money to indulge. Do justice to your destination or business and do not forget this.
Do you want to hear more from us?
Want to be kept up to date with the latest travel and tourism insights? Join Our Mailing List. Every 2 weeks, we send the latest practical insight for you to apply to your business and destination marketing.
-
I’ve only just come across your blog post, Bronwyn, via a link from ETB Travel News, and I found that ironically doing a search for “senior travel”. Your research only confirms what we have intuitively known: i.e. most seniors don’t identify themselves as seniors, and if they do, they think of themselves as 10-15 years younger.
I work with two other retired Australian travel writers producing content for xyzAsia magazine which focuses on senior travel in Asia, but like I note you do with your own blog, we downplay the senior angle as much as possible and only make references to seniors when we are maybe talking about treks or other activities that are too strenuous for all but the fittest seniors.
Some articles don’t even mention the word ‘senior’, and may only have one reference to something that might “appeal to the older traveller”.
You are right that seniors have a lot more time to spare than most younger travellers (digital nomads excepted) and value for money and rewarding experiences are what they are looking for. Relaxation and peace (e.g. spas, good food, nature walks) are what they are looking for rather than excitement and noise (e.g. bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, all-night parties) which might appeal to younger travellers. So it’s very much what we write about that differentiates senior travel blogs and magazines from the vast majority of other travel blogs out there.
In writing about senior travel it’s a fine line we have to tread. On the one hand we want to make sure that seniors know we are writing for them, but on the other hand we don’t want to turn them off by over-emphasising the age factor. Avoiding those cringe-worthy photos is a good start!
David – it is a hard line isn’t it? You might like to know Bron is now running a specialist seniors consulting New Young Consulting. We loved this sector so much we split the company! We will continue to provide great seniors commentary – particularly via our trends but you should add us both to your lists!
Great insights Bronwyn and we wholeheartedly agree.
Who wants to be called a “senior”? Not any of us on the TruBlu Team, that’s for sure.
Also agree that not all older travellers care about FREE stuff. In fact, we hear the exact opposite from many TruBlu travellers, who are put off by all the infighting and negativity in many of the online platforms that focus on FREE camping.
There is a place for everyone though, and the online world sure allows for more single, first time or cautious travellers to connect with those that have been around the block a few times. We love seeing them chatting away on TruBlu’s FB page or sharing stories on our Grapevine. One thing about TruBlu is that we don’t tolerate any negativity, and that creates a great place for retirees, families and young travellers alike to feel safe and share their travel tales.
It feels like what you’re really talking about is understanding and respect. Understanding and accepting each other’s difference opinions, needs and travel dreams tells us all we need to know about communicating with the different market segments.
Respect and manners go a long way, whether it be online or on the road.
Hi Nicole
Thanks for taking the time to make such a thorough comment and to share your experiences on your platform. You are right in so many ways. I often think in all the research of all the age groups we do, that seniors are the most youthful of all. They often seem younger than our Gen Y’s who can be serious young insects indeed. I have just gone and joined your site and had a look around wha ta great concept. So Nicole am I right in saying that your members write and create the stories – they do this voluntarily? Bron
Nicole – Like Bron, we couldn’t agree more. Respecting your customer is such a fundamentally important value in business but we see SO many examples where this is not delivered. The ‘New Young’ sector is a particularly egregious example, but there are plenty of others. You’ve inspired me to do a little video for the site on this – so keep the comments coming!