baby boomers
Visa stamps in passports are, thankfully, getting easier to obtain. Photo by Clark Norton
Traditionally, some of the most painful experiences in traveling internationally have taken place before the trips even begin.
No, I’m not talking about buying the plane tickets, though that can be painful as well. I’m not even talking about packing your bags to satisfy TSA requirements.
I am talking about obtaining visas, especially for certain countries that seem to do everything they can think of to discourage visitors from actually coming and spending money within their borders — just about as short-sighted a policy as you can get, since tourism is now the world’s number one industry.
And yes, the U.S. is one of those countries. I wrote about Brazil sparring with the U.S. over mutually restrictive visa requirements in an earlier post.
But now, things are loosening up a bit, according to a report… Continue reading
Baby boomers are filling their bucket lists — and spending money doing it. Photo from ROW Adventures
I came upon this observation from an unnamed pharmaceutical industry consultant, so I can’t give proper credit (though it appeared in the always provocative Bo Sacks media newsletter):
“No form of advertising is a safe, perpetual source of revenue, no matter how flush the advertiser or how desirable the audience. Because advertising has to change behavior, not just look good or get attention.”
His or her immediate point was that pharmaceutical ads aimed at doctors usually try to convince the physicians to change drug brands rather than cement a brand they currently prescribe to their patients — because for various reasons that’s where the potential profits lie — and I’m sure it’s an accurate observation…in many cases.
But it struck me as not necessarily true about travel advertising — … Continue reading
The Carnival Freedom will carry baby boomer singles to the eastern Caribbean in November 2013. Photo from Carnival.
Here’s a niche within a niche: a cruise not just for baby boomers, but for single baby boomers.
It makes sense, because while lots of cruises are filled with boomers, cruises — ever popular with couples, families and even groups of friends — can be difficult for single travelers.
Where does a single traveler sit at dinner? Where does a single traveler find a dance partner? Where does a single traveler find someone to just hang out with?
The problem may even be greater for travelers over 50.
To meet this need, Singles Cruise is sponsoring an eight-night “Baby Boomers Caribbean Adventure Singles Cruise” for singles born between 1946 and 1964, embarking November 16 from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, aboard the Carnival Freedom.
The eastern Caribbean cruise will call at the islands of… Continue reading
In a previous post I wrote about “gramping” — grandparents camping with grandkids (but cheating a bit by bedding down in a lodge) — a name coined by an inn in Ohio.
A king-sized bed lures baby boomers in one of the “glamping” tents at the River Dance Lodge. Photo from River Dance Lodge.
Now comes “glamping” — a term that’s catching on as a clever contraction for “glamorous camping,” a combo that doesn’t always spring immediately to mind.
Glamping seems tailor-made for baby boomers, who may love the great outdoors but also tend to favor somewhat softer accommodations than, well, hard ground dotted with annoying pebbles.
Glamping, however, involves (at a minimum) tents with real beds inside — what’s not to like?
“Glamping” has been around for a while, though perhaps not by that name. The English used to go on African safaris in tents that… Continue reading
Starwood Hotels CEO Frits van Paasschen.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts CEO Frits van Paasschen, regarded as a visionary in the industry, has a fascinating take on what travelers will soon expect from their chosen lodgings (as recounted in this piece by Greg Oates in Skift.com).
“Today,” he recently told the hotel group’s annual sales pow wow in New Orleans, “a hotel brand can’t stand apart just by having a comfortable, reliable, clean room…that expectation today, driven by technology, is personalization.”
Van Paasschen gives the examples of Amazon.com and Facebook, who not only seem to know everything about their customers and users, they do know what their customers and users are looking for and like. (After all, we give them the information, and they know how to mine the data.)
“So how long will it be,” he asks, “before all of us expect a hotel brand where we spend… Continue reading
Jester the Weimaraner puppy and Instagram marketer overlooks the Queensland coast. Photo from Brisbane Times
From time to time I like to call attention to tourism bureaus and marketers using creative visuals to reach potential visitors.
A recent example is Bushmills in Northern Ireland painting faux people and animals on abandoned houses and shops to make it appear the town is more prosperous than it actually is. And with tourism increasing, it seems to be working.
Now Tourism Queensland (Australia) is using a six-month-old Weimaraner puppy named Jester to spearhead a new Instagram campaign intended to depict what life is like for typical Queenslanders.
Queensland residents are encouraged to send in their photos for Jester to post on Instagram between September 9 and 15. (Lacking opposable thumbs, Jester will be aided in this endeavor by regional photographer and a park ranger, but he will apparently be barking out his… Continue reading
If Niagara Falls is on your “bucket list,” Expedia may get you there. Photo from Niagara Falls State Park.
You may have seen the Expedia.com TV commercial in which a man stops random passersby, questions them about their dream trips and inquires, “If you were asked to drop everything right now, would you go?” and suggests that Expedia is ready to buy them a ticket and send them wherever they want — if they go now.
The ad is titled “Find Your Spontaneity,” a teaser for Expedia’s current “Trip A Day Giveaway” promotion.
Some say no, they just couldn’t do it today. But one man, whose dream is going to China, does agree to leave that night — and the next image we see is him standing on the Great Wall, not quite believing his good fortune.
The first thing that bothered me about this ad is that unless… Continue reading
I’ve long had an ambivalent feeling toward the reviews on TripAdvisor, the extremely successful user-driven website that provides readers’ takes on everything from hotels and restaurants to museums and travel activities.
TripAdvisor rules that newly renovated hotels should get a clean slate on reviews.
Like many baby boomers, I find the reviews can be extremely helpful in sorting out the travel-related chaff from the wheat — a long as I can first sort out the chaff from the wheat of the reviews themselves.
It’s not uncommon to come across restaurant reviews, for instance, that are the diametric opposites of each other:
“Ate at Luigi’s last night, and it was the greatest meal I’ve ever had — maybe the best that anyone has ever had! Love those meatballs!”
And, right below it: “Don’t listen to anyone who likes Luigi’s — this place is the worst! Worst food, worst service, and… Continue reading
New Zealand’s fabulous scenery makes it an inspiring place to hike. Photo by Clark Norton
Along with Switzerland, New Zealand is my favorite place to hike.
The “tracks,” as hiking trails are known there, lead along mountain ridges, lakes, and rivers and through valleys and rainforests. The scenery is, well, choose your cliche: spectacular, breathtaking, unforgettable.
Some of the tracks are relatively easy, while others can literally take your breath away.
A Kiwi-owned company, New Zealand Trails, makes it easy for baby boomers — about two-thirds of its customers are in the 49 to 67 boomer age range — to experience several of the tracks as well as other South Island highlights, such as a train journey across the Southern Alps, a glowworm cave, a kayak trip through a coastal lagoon, a scenic helicopter ride, a lake cruise, and a boat trip across Milford Sound.
Hiking trails include a… Continue reading
Downtown Bushmills — is it real or is it faux? Photo from theworld.org
Here’s a story I love.
As reported by eTurboNews, a travel industry news reporting service, the northern Ireland town of Bushmills is “faking prosperity” in an effort to draw more tourists.
Bushmills is best known as one of the temples of Irish whiskey, but it has fallen on hard times of late, resulting in a fair number of abandoned homes and shops and a drop-off in tourist visits. Besides its four-century-old tradition of whiskey making, Bushmills is a gateway to the Giants Causeway, a dramatic natural formation that resembles stepping stones leading into the sea.
So the town has called on “cosmetic enhancement,” as eTurboNews describes it, a facelift of sorts for a dozen or so boarded up buildings that had become a blight on Bushmills’ main street.
Known as the “Brighter Bushmills Project,” the enhancements… Continue reading
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