baby boomer travel
When it comes to vacation spending decisions in America, it seems, women rule. Especially baby boomer women.
Women definitely have the wealth. Those age 50 and older have a net worth of $19 trillion, and control more than three-quarters of the financial wealth in the U.S., according to a Mass Mutual Financial Group report. In turn, these same women spend 2 1/2 times that of the average American.
According to statistics from the she-conomy blog, written by Stephanie Holland of Holland and Holland Advertising, women in general account for 85 percent of all consumer purchases in the U.S. — and 92 percent of vacation spending.
To repeat: women spend more than nine out of ten vacation dollars.
That means that marketers should pay serious attention to women travelers. But many women say… Continue reading
I don’t think it had happened to me more than once before in decades of eating in restaurants, but it happened twice in the past three days during my vacation at the Jersey Shore:
A server carrying a tray of drinks to my table spilled some of them onto my lap.
In the first instance, at dinner, the spills were a glass of water and a glass of wine — thankfully white wine.
In the second case, at breakfast in a different restaurant, it was a glass of water.
Both restaurants were casual but nice places, with medium-range prices.
In both cases, the servers apologized profusely, and everyone at the tables — including me — assured them that no real harm was done.
Certainly, it could have been worse:
At dinner I was wearing jeans and a polo… Continue reading
Ever since my family and I have been coming to the Jersey Shore in summer — off and on for more than 30 years — I’ve spent a few minutes each beach day staring up at the sky as small planes tow intriguing banners with messages advertising various places to eat, drink and otherwise spend your money.
Such as: “$1 beer every Monday night at Captain Bob’s Brew Dock!”
Or: “Try Luigi’s for the Best Lasagna in South Jersey!”
Or: “Empty Your Wallet at the Trump Palace in Atlantic City!”
Well, I made that last one up, though it would constitute truth in advertising.
I’ve often wondered, though, just how much effectiveness such ads have — do they really rake in enough customers that it pays for Luigi to hire a small plane for, say, a… Continue reading
Bicycling is great exercise for baby boomers, who may find running to be too hard on the knees, surfing too fraught with teenagers, golf too pricey and frustrating, and hula-hooping just all-around too embarrassing.
With cycling, though, it’s easy to just hop on a bike and take off. Of course, it’s good to have someplace safe to ride.
Ocean City, New Jersey, on the lower stretches of the Jersey Shore south of Atlantic City, knows how to make cycling safe and appealing, which helps keep people out of cars and improve physical fitness and air quality as well. Its longtime slogan “America’s Greatest Family Resort” is morphing into “America’s Greenest Family Resort.”
A bike lane (and walking/jogging lane) runs along the south side of the beautiful new bridge that connects Ocean City to Somers Point on the… Continue reading
I’m onboard the Europa 2, Hapag-Lloyd’s new luxury cruise ship, sailing from Sicily to Sardinia in the western Mediterranean.
One of the afternoon offerings onboard is a meat seminar featuring Wolfgang Otto, one of three German brothers who recognized a need in Germany and decided to fill it: supplying Germany’s finest Michelin-rated restaurants with top-quality beef and pork.
Otto admitted to me and the other baby boomers onboard that just eight years ago he knew very little about meat, yet today his family’s company, Otto Gourmet, is regarded as the top beef and pork purveyor in Germany. Kobe cattle and Iberico pig are two of the products they distribute to both top restaurants and private customers.
For enlightenment on the subject, he and his brothers first turned to a Nebraska rancher, Dan Morgan, who taught them the finer points of how to… Continue reading
Valletta, Malta – I’m in the capital of Malta before embarking on the Europa 2, Hapag-Lloyd’s new luxury cruise ship, for a cruise through the Western Mediterranean.
Valletta is a beautiful walled city, once home to the Knights of St. John — originally formed during the Crusades to bring Christianity back to the Holy Land — who fled here from the island of Rhodes in the 1500s.
When the knights arrived here, they paid a fief to the Spanish king of one falcon per year in order to occupy the island; eventually, the payment evolved into a golden falcon. No one knows what happened to the golden falcons, but the mystery formed the basis of the Dashiell Hammett novel The Maltese Falcon, later made into a… Continue reading
I was surprised to read a few days ago that Tourism New Zealand — the organization charged with luring travelers to kiwi land and making their visits more enjoyable — has just launched its first mobile app.
Called “Essential New Zealand,” the new app can be downloaded for free and used to access travel advice throughout the country without having to have a WiFi connection.
Among its current features you’ll find:
The top 10 New Zealand experiences;
“must-do” experiences for 26 regions and many popular locations;
photos, descriptions and prices for hundreds of activities and attractions;
contact details and detailed map locations for activities and information centers;
and ways to plan, save and share your favorite activities.
More features are planned for future versions.
Smartphone usage is reported to have increased by 28 percent in New Zealand… Continue reading
In a recent post we reported on “gramping” — an amalgam of grandparenting and camping — aimed at baby boomers who want to stay in the comfort of a lodge while the younger generations of their family sleep in tents at nearby campsites.
Now another lodging is adding its own creative twist to lure baby boomers: Baby Boomer Adventure Camp.
From September 20-22 this year, The family-owned Purity Spring Resort in East Madison, New Hampshire, will host a weekend’s “camp” intended to tweak the nostalgia button resting inside each baby boomer’s heart — in this case, reliving those carefree days at summer camp back when we were kids (even if it is in the fall).
Campers can participate in classic activities like swimming in the lake, hiking, archery, tennis and kayaking.
But then comes the twist: according… Continue reading
I was glad to read in The New York Times that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo took time out from their busy schedules to promote tourism in the Adirondacks, a huge tract of parkland in upstate New York.
The two officials, who haven’t always seen eye-to-eye politically, agreed to meet each other oar-to-oar for some whitewater rafting on the Indian River. Each was part of a team of six rafters — consisting of various aides, bodyguards and relatives (including Cuomo’s two daughters) — who competed against each other for bragging rights, to see who could complete the river runs the fastest.
The rafting competition was part of a week-long event called the Adirondack Challenge, designed to call attention to various activities in this mountainous, lake-dotted region of the state: everything from art shows… Continue reading
Here’s an idea I love (complete with a great name):
“Gramping.”
Gramping comes courtesy of the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls, located a half mile above Hocking Hills’ scenic Cedar Falls in southeastern Ohio, about an hour and a half from Columbus.
While the Hocking Hills is a popular family camping area, boomer grandparents who travel with their adult children and grandkids may not be as keen on sleeping in tents as are the younger generations.
This is where the Inn & Spa at Cedar falls comes to the rescue with…gramping.
The inn happens to be near Old Man’s Cave Campground, where the younger folks can pitch their tents. After a day’s hiking in the forests, canoeing and exploring the area’s waterfalls, caves and rock formations, the… Continue reading