In 10 days, we'll observe the 55th anniversary of the end of World
War II. By summer's end in 1945, the shooting had stopped in Europe
and in the Pacific.
Within a year or so, most of the veterans of the war had
returned to civilian life and a few years later as the decade
ended, they had reestablished themselves and were starting
families. Over the course of the next decade, the birth rate
soared, giving rise to the term "baby boom."
The children of that era, the so-called "boomers," are now
fiftyish and are emerging from their focus on raising their kids to
concentrate on fulfilling their own aspirations. For many of them,
the opportunity to travel is a high priority.
The good news for the travel industry is that for the next
decade, there will be more people who have the time and the
resources to travel for pleasure than at any time in history. The
explosion of interest in leisure trips will take us through the
first decade of the new century and while it will not guarantee the
survival of suppliers and travel agencies, it holds promise for
companies focused on discretionary travel.
But success in this marketplace will require more than hanging
out a shingle that says "leisure travel." It will require an
understanding of the attitudes and tastes of the baby-boomer
generation.
This is not the first-time international traveler group, the
so-called "if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium" crowd that
characterized the market of the late '60s and '70s.
A substantial portion of baby boomers who are becoming empty
nesters already have traveled extensively within the U.S. and
abroad. While they may want to return to favorite places, they are
more likely to seek out destinations that previously might have
been considered exotic. They also are far more likely to travel in
pursuit of specific interests rather than take generalized
sightseeing trips.
The Internet will facilitate this activity, making it possible
for travelers to pursue their interests and to find others with
common interests to join them.
The suppliers and agencies in the leisure market will need to do
their homework to determine what special interests are powerful
enough to attract significant numbers of travelers. They will need
to use the Web as a means of promotion and communication based on
special interests.
The boomers are out there in record numbers but they're a
sophisticated group who will require sophisticated services.