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Canada is proud to announce that demographics and today’s hectic family
lifestyles have increased intergenerational family travel to Ontario resorts.
Intergenerational travel between grandparents and grandchildren has been around
for some time. It became most popular approximately 20 years ago when
Grandtravel, the U.S. tour operator, started catering exclusively to
intergenerational tourists. Canada is proud to announce that demographics and
today’s hectic family lifestyles have increased intergenerational family travel
to Ontario resorts.
In 2004, a special article was written in Globe and Mail, Canada’s national
newspaper. Kira Vermond reported on the increasing trend toward grandparents and
grandchildren traveling together. This trend has also influenced how some of the
larger resorts such as the Delta Chelsea in Toronto operate. In addition, the
increase in business from intergenerational tourism is now being felt by some of
the smaller properties. The article also mentioned a travel survey conducted in
2003 by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell (YPB&R) that reported 1/3 of
grandparents had traveled with their grandchildren in the past 12 months, and
that 21% of those that took part in intergenerational travel did not include the
children’s parents. This shows that intergenerational relationships are
developing and becoming increasingly important.
Bruce McClennan, owner of Ogopogo Resort (http://www.ogopogoresort.com), a
family and couples luxury cottage resort in the Ontario resort region of
Haliburton Highlands, has noticed a significant increase in travel among
grandparents and grandchildren over the past four years. As a result of the
increase in travel among intergenerational families, Ogopogo Resort has expanded
their service to meet the needs of both generations.
The expansion of service at Ogopogo Resort has begun by focusing its marketing
attention on the grandparents that are beginning to enter the travel market.
According to Statistics Canada, “Canada has one of the fastest aging populations
in the developed world.” It is estimated that by 2015, seniors will make up a
larger portion of the population than children under the age of 15. For this
reason, Ogopogo Resort has stepped out to encourage intergenerational travel—creating
a safe and exciting experience that will enhance intergenerational relationships.
“Grandparents have particular needs in looking for a cottage vacation,” says
McClennan. Ogopogo is an Ontario vacation resort that focuses “First and
foremost on safety. We do this by ensuring a safe beach for swimming. The same
is true for the playground. Second, we focus on incorporating fun things to do
throughout the resort. Our children’s program also gives the grandparents a
break in the action for their own quiet time. In the afternoon, tubing and
water-skiing is also available to create some great memories to take home. In
addition, evenings around the campfire with marshmallows and camp songs are
another great source of memories.”
What Ogopogo Resort offers today is vastly different than what was offered
several years ago. According to Bruce McClennan, “When we started looking at
this trend four years ago, we had one summer cottage in one week filled with
grandparents and their grandchildren. This year, the number is four or five, or
about 7% of our business. It is also interesting that some of this is coming
from Europe.” This proves that Ogopogo has been able to adapt to the changing
tourism trends—making it memorable Ontario Canada resort.
Because North American and European societal trends have been driven by the baby
boom generation for over 50 years, Ontario Canada’s Ogopogo Resort will continue
to meet the needs of the changing market. In addition to their own leisure
travel, grandparents will continue to have a significant impact on the Ontario
resort market as they take their grandkids away for an adventure.
To learn more about Ogopogo Resort and how they are catering to
intergenerational tourists, please visit their web site at http://www.ogopogoresort.com
or call 1-866-405-8938.
All of the above text is a press release provided by the quoted organization.
globalagingtimes.com accepts no responsibility for their accuracy.