Clark Norton
Nelson Mandela’s life is the focus of two tours now being offered by separate African safari operators.
Sad news: Just hours after posting the item below, I learned that Nelson Mandela had died today. Following in his footsteps in South Africa would be an appropriate way to honor his life.
I don’t know who had the idea first, or whether it was simultaneous and coincidental, but two African safari outfitters have come out with similar trips tracing the “footprints” — or “footsteps,” depending on the tour company — of South African liberation hero Nelson Mandela.
Both are touting their trips as complementing the recent release of the film Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom, and both are meant to highlight milestones and significant sites in Mandela’s life.
One outfitter, Great Safaris, is offering a trip called “Madiba’s Journey: In Nelson Mandela’s Footprints,” while the other, African… Continue reading
Jerusalem ranks fourth on TripAdvisor’s list of global destinations “on the rise.” Photo by Clark Norton
Which destinations do travelers really want to go to right now — as opposed to ones that they might only be dreaming about for the future?
The always informative travel news site skift.com has a piece that tries to answer that question, based on “millions of searches and reviews” on the mega-review site TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor has come out with lists of “places that have seen the greatest increase in positive traveler feedback and traveler interest” of late — in short, destinations that are “on the rise.”
The destinations are listed in “top ten” order globally as well as for the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the South Pacific. The lists reflect all age groups so there’s no way of knowing what percentage were baby boomers doing the searching.
Here, according… Continue reading
Baby boomers ride the Rogue River while rafting with ROW Adventures. Photo from ROW Adventures.
We’ve had Black Friday (which actually began Thursday), Small Business Saturday, Return-Home Sunday (I made that up), Cyber Monday, and now comes Adventure Tuesday ™ from ROW Adventures.
ROW Adventures, which I’ve written about in previous posts, is a top-flight adventure travel outfitter based in Idaho. As owner Peter Grubb told me last summer, one of his top target markets is baby boomer travelers, especially for international trips — though boomers also do their share of kayaking and whitewater rafting in Idaho and elsewhere.
Now’s the time to lock in some savings if you want to take a ROW trip next year.
ROW’s Adventure Tuesday™ promotion offers discounts on a number of upcoming trips if you book from 9 am PST (12 noon EST) Tuesday December 3 until 5 pm PST (8… Continue reading
Monticello — Jefferson’s home, which appears on the U.S. nickel coin. Photo by Clark Norton
I spent last week in Charlottesville, Virginia, visiting family over Thanksgiving, and found it to be a very livable — and visit-able — city, which I highly recommend for baby boomer travelers.
Mostly I knew it as the home of the University of Virginia and Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, both of which were designed by our third president. Those two sites alone would warrant a visit, but anyone interested in history, outdoor activities and good food would find a welcome respite in Charlottesville.
Now here are ten things I didn’t know about Charlottesville:
Montpelier, home of President James Madison. Photo by Lia Norton
* Some of the most coveted and prestigious student residences at the University of Virginia have no bathrooms. These are historic ground-floor single rooms facing the Lawn, the long… Continue reading
Americans fly across country to share this meal, creating chaos and lost change at airports.
Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. readers!
The fourth Thursday in November is the day Americans traditionally stuff themselves with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, some kind of token green vegetable, and pumpkin pie.
It also leads to the busiest travel days of the year as families and friends reunite from the far corners of he country, usually by auto or air, resulting in traffic jams on the roads and in the sky.
With airports jammed and bad weather often leading to delays and frayed nerves, security lines and procedures enforced by the federal Transportation Security Adminstration (TSA) cause travelers — baby boomers and other generations alike — to sometimes lose their cool along with — well, the spare change they have to empty from their pockets.
According to a story in the… Continue reading
In what may be the worst potential development in flying since airlines started charging for everything from checked luggage to checkered food service, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has announced that airlines may soon be permitted to allow passengers to make cell phone calls during flights.
Please tell me that this is a nightmare from which I shall soon awake — because it may mean I’ll never get another moment’s rest on a plane (they’re hard enough to get as it is).
Just what I want to hear at 30,000 feet: the taxing trials and tribulations — or for that matter the often trivial triumphs — of the stranger seated next to me, snug as we are already in the ever-tighter, crowded cabins. With no escape.
My noise-cancelling headphones should help, but somehow cell-phone conversations seem to permeate even those. And I can’t blast music into my ears while trying… Continue reading
Luxembourg is a land of medieval castles and forested hiking trails. Photo from Luxembourg National Tourist Office.
I always like to call attention to enterprising travel marketing ideas, and a group of five hotels in the Ardennes region of northern Luxembourg have banded together to come up with a good one.
If you stay in any of their hotels, you can walk, bike or ride a motorbike between them, and the hotels will transport your luggage for you — much like a guided group walking tour would do, except you do it on your own (at less expense).
The five hotels form a rough loop about seven to 13 miles (12 to 22 km.) apart, so you can easily put together a five-day walking plan or perhaps a three-day biking trip, using any combination of the five hotels. There are about 70 miles (120 km.) of hiking paths in the… Continue reading
A CroisiEurope boat glides peacefully down a canal as passengers sit on deck. Photo from CroisiEurope.
Americans have always been able to go on CroisiEurope river cruises — Europe’s largest river cruise line with 30 ships — but now the family-owned company has added a U.S. website and call center for consumers to book with them directly.
Until now, travel agents could book U.S. passengers onto CroisiEurope ships, but the company’s new U.S. presence means that it’s going after the American market in a big way — including, of course, baby boomer travelers, who are the lifeblood of just about all river cruising operations.
At this past weekend’s River Cruise Convention in Cologne, Germany, CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) UK director Andy Harmer told delegates that boomers are “incredibly impactful for our business,” praising them as a “wealthy, active and physically fit generation of consumers.” He urged agents selling river… Continue reading
The Polish town of Wieliczka has a subterranean salt mine that houses a cathedral complete with chandeliers made of salt. Photo from Flickr.
I spent yesterday in New York City at VEMEX (Visit Europe Media Exchange), where a throng of travel writers met with dozens of representatives of European travel destinations, tour agencies, railways, river cruises and rental cars.
Representatives were allotted 15 minutes to update each writer on what was new, compelling and noteworthy about their destinations or companies, with writers busily scribbling unreadable notes and — more helpfully — pocketing cleverly packaged thumb drives that they could later plug into their computers with all the salient information.
And there was information aplenty, providing a good indication of what types of visitors and customers they’re seeking and how they hope to attract them.
I can guarantee you that baby boomer travelers — who tend to favor… Continue reading
Boomers on a river rafting trip still crave adventure. Photo from ROW Adventures
The short answer to the question in the title above is “yes.”
In the nearly six months I’ve been writing this blog, we’ve laid out a number of characteristics that define baby boomers, and baby boomer travelers in particular, that help separate them from other generations. Here are six of them:
* They are more willing to spend money on themselves — including travel — than the generations previous to them.
* They place more emphasis on value than simply on what things cost; that is, they enjoy luxury and comfort and are willing to spend more for it if they perceive it to be good value. Similarly, they’re less interested in budget travel for its own sake than previous or succeeding generations — largely, perhaps, because they have more disposable income as a group.
* They… Continue reading
Follow me on Twitter
Connect on Facebook
Amazon Author page
Connect on LinkedIn
Get My Latest Report for FREE:
Click to download: How to Ride the Coming Wave of Boomers ... And Attract the Biggest-Spending Travelers the World Has Ever Seen!
- Feeling Festive? Try Quebec City, Santa Fe
- The Perils and Pleasures of Navigating a French Canal
- How to Add Fun to Business Travel
- Where to Find the Real St. Patrick
- “Stunning! Breathtaking!”: The Chatbot’s Guide to Portugal
- Traveling with a Disability? Here are 5 Tips
- Going to Malta? Here are 3 places to visit
- Are Your Medicines Illegal Overseas?
- Why You May Have Skipped Summer Travels
- Congratulations — You’ve Earned Five Stars!
