Better with age

What comes to mind when clients in the 50-plus age category walk into your agency looking for a vacation?

Chances are, even the most enlightened among you cling to some misconceptions about this age group that could be keeping you from making a sale, according to Chris Kelly, editor and co-publisher of Active Times in Carbondale, Colo.

The publication, founded by Kelly in 1991, celebrates aging and debunks myths about the group that Kelly prefers to call "mature" rather than "senior."

Those myths include:

"There may be an element of truth to this, but because of enhanced health care and an emphasis on fitness, people can sustain a high level of activity well into their later years," Kelly said.

"We often hear that mature people have made up their minds about products, brands and services and there is no point in trying to market to them," Kelly said.

"In fact, this is less true than for younger people," she said. "Studies have shown that older people spend more time gathering information; they actually read advertisements, and they are looking for new services."

"This can be true of any age category, and certainly more so for people on fixed incomes," she said.

However, an increasing number of people in this age range are more willing than ever to spend money on travel, Kelly said, thanks to a booming economy and dramatic rises in real estate values.

"On the contrary, the two fastest growing groups of Internet users are teens and mature people," said Kelly.

For the latter group, researching travel comes second only to health topics, she said, adding that the 50-plus group is looking for more than just the best prices.

"They may not be booking on line, but they are doing the research," Kelly said.

She predicted that as suppliers catch on to this trend, the number of Internet products targeting this group will increase as well.

What can the travel industry do to better serve the 50-plus market?

"More creative solutions are in order," she said.

"Even people who [for the most part] want to sit on a bus and sightsee might want to try one or two adventurous activities that can be incorporated into the trip," Kelly said.

"As people retire, their vacations become opportunities to learn and accomplish," she said.

"As families continue to move away from each other geographically, I think the family vacation will become an institution," she said.

"Older travelers have been there and done that, and they are looking for the exotic," Kelly said.

"We find [some] companies are afraid to be identified with this market, and I think they are making a huge mistake," said Kelly.

"People in this age category now tend not to care about their image, but as baby boomers move into that age group, we predict that this [attitude] will change," she said, noting the outspoken resistance on the part of boomers to succumb to the traditional concepts of aging.

I have never met Bob Dickinson, the president of Carnival Cruise Lines. But I have been following the man's utterances during the years with great interest.

Because he is right more often than not and he tells us stuff we don't really want to hear, I have developed a keen sense of respect for the man.

Here are a few lessons from the World According to Bob that I think make sense for leisure retailers:

It isn't as if the facts don't bear him out. And the facts have been obvious for a very long time.

Richard Turen is an industry consultant and travel agency president. Contact him at [email protected].