USA : Tourism specialists meet seniors’ needs

Why do seniors travel more than a few years ago ?The answer seems quite obvious : new generations live longer and healthier, which gives senior orientated tourism a new breathe. The market is well known for being adventurous, as taking seniors on a tour depends on their health.
Seniors have very specific expectancies when travelling. They like to participate in the places they visit, taking time to meet local people and walking around villages to learn about cultures, instead of passive sightseeing. Most seniors appreciate escorted tours for the reason that “They are travelling with people with the same likes and cultural levels and they like to have things done for them. They don’t have to worry about any hassles about reservations and transfers because on an escorted tour just about everything is done for them », explains Bob Whitley, president of the U.S. Tour Operators Association.
Some companies specialize in tourism for seniors, where as most of them seek customers of all ages.
Boston-based Grand Circle Travel is a pioneer in taking seniors on touring that offers about 100 trips through its different sister-companies, and estimate to 150,000 the numbers of customers travelling with them in 2004, from almost 124,000 in 2003, which represents a 20% increase. Average age is 72.
James Crawford, a 72 years old customer of Grand Circle who took a tour to Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro found it “extremely well organized for someone like me, who doesn’t want to be bothered with a lot of details of travelling at this stage in my life. They make all the arrangements. The pacing is suitable for middle-aged and elderly people. They always have very good tours usually led by local university lecturers or professors. »
Elderhostel, a Boston-based nonprofit educational operation offers 10,000 programs serving 55-plus for an excellent choice of various tourism destinations and travel themes all over the world.