Disney

How Disney Cruises Appeal to Traveling Baby Boomers

Published June 26, 2013 | By Clark Norton

Sailaway to Alaska aboard the Disney Wonder. Photo from Disney Cruise Lines

When my wife and I took a Disney cruise to Alaska last summer — sans kids, who are now grown — we weren’t sure if we would feel out of place on a Disney vessel. We had enjoyed all the usual Disney entertainments when our kids were young, but how would we fare as a couple on the Disney Wonder, sailing through Alaska’s Inside Passage?

Would we be overwhelmed with small children in the swimming pool and dining rooms, and besieged by roaming Mickeys and Minnies?

We needn’t have worried. While Disney cruises are certainly as family-friendly as you would expect, with far more kids sailing with Disney than on the average Alaska cruise, Disney is expert at balancing the needs and desires of different ages and interests — just one way in which they are expert… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Cruises, Marketing | Tagged baby boomer marketing strategies, baby boomer tours, baby boomer travel, baby boomer travel trends, baby boomer travelers, baby boomers, baby boomers and tourism, boomers, branding, cruising, Disney, marketing baby boomer travel, selling travel to baby boomers, travel, travel marketing, traveling baby boomers | Leave a comment

Baby Boomer Travel Trend: Taking the Grandkids

Published June 13, 2013 | By Clark Norton

Savvy tour operators and destination marketers are taking aim at a big newly emerging travel force: baby boomers traveling with their grandchildren.

Leading edge baby boomers, reaching age 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day, are finding themselves with more time to travel, and affluent baby boomers are ready to both spend some quality time on the road with their grandkids and spend the money necessary to make sure everyone has a memorable trip.

In a report prepared for lastminute.com, the Future Foundation identified GranTravel, as they called it, as one of the key new trends in travel and leisure. The foundation described “a new generation of active grandparents who travel with their grandchildren, making the most of their free time and spending power, while the parents continue to work.”

Austin Adventures offers a family adventure trip to the Grand Canyon. Photo from the National Park Service

Traveling with… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Marketing, Tours | Tagged Austin Lehman Adventures, baby boomer travel, baby boomer travel trends, baby boomer travelers, baby boomers, baby boomers and tourism, boomers, cruising, Disney, Road Scholar, travel, travel marketing, traveling baby boomers | Leave a comment

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.