traveling baby boomers
Thailand’s Koh Tapu island (also known as James Bond Island) will look familiar to many baby boomers.
Count the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in on the global trend of trying to appeal to baby boomer travelers to visit its shores. More than 70 million potential visitors with money to spend cannot be ignored.
TAT has launched a campaign in American TV, print, and online ads as well as enhanced social media outreach to convince boomers to journey to the land of colorful temples and palaces, flower markets, kick boxing, and, of course, some of the world’s best food.
Prime beaches, certainly, are part of the mix, but Thai Tourism officials are stressing that there’s a lot more to Thailand than sun and sand (which, after all, the Caribbean provides in much greater proximity).
There are elephants to ride, tribal villages and ancient ruins to visit, rivers and klongs (canals)… Continue reading
Pastoruri glacier in the Peruvian Andes is fast disappearing, revealing ancient rocks below the ice.
The effects of climate change on glaciers, coral reefs and other natural phenomena around the globe are well documented: disappearing ice in Antarctica and Greenland, disappearing habitats for Arctic polar bears, disappearing marine life from coral reefs off Australia and other tropical waters around the globe being among the best known (and most alarming) examples.
But I wasn’t aware until I read this great piece from Reuters (via skift.com) that glaciers are also disappearing from the Peruvian Andes, or that Peru had the greatest concentration of tropical glaciers in the world, which are highly vulnerable to climate change.
The main gist of the article is that Peruvians who depend on tourist visits to one fast-shrinking glacier, the Pastoruri, are facing threats to their livelihood that mirror the threats to the glacier itself, which has lost… Continue reading
Frankfurt Germany’s airport allows you to stash your coat while heading to southern climes.
If you’re like me, you’ve had some really bad experiences in airports.
I’m not talking about just long, slow security lines — though those can cause serious problems catching some flights — but huge distances to cover between flights without sufficient airport transportation; bad signage; lousy dining choices; airline lounges that are almost impossible to find; lack of storage facilities; escalators that don’t work or don’t exist at all, forcing passengers to lug heavy suitcases up stairways; luggage carts that require coins in currencies visitors haven’t acquired yet; lack of sufficient seating near gates (or anywhere, for that matter); baggage carousels that don’t work, stranding some bags in limbo; inadequate restroom facilities…I could go on, but you get the picture.
Sometimes when I’m having to dash between flights — such as I did a few months… Continue reading
MSC cruises sail the world. Photo from MSC Cruises
MSC Cruises has announced new “Boomer Plus” rates for passengers 50 and older at the time of sailing. That applies to almost all baby boomers (now aged 49-67) except for some born in 1964, the tail end of the baby boom.
The Boomer Plus rates include “special reduced pricing” — the line is advertising seven-night or longer Caribbean cruises starting at $779 per passenger based on double occupancy — as well as reduced deposits ($100 per person).
The discounts can be combined with MSC Club (past passenger) discounts as well as with military and civil service discounts that MSC offers (which may be up to 10 percent off).
Boomer rates are also available on MSC’s Mediterranean, Northern Europe and Grand Voyage cruises.
You need to ask for “Boomer Plus” rates when you call (1-800-666-9333).
Keep in mind that, like many special… Continue reading
Bicycling in Holland is the best way to see the countryside and get some exercise, too — but without hills to climb. Photo from Netherlands Board of Tourism.
Is there a better place in the world for baby boomers to take to bicycles than The Netherlands?
The country is mostly flat. It’s also incredibly scenic. Distances are short. There are bike paths everywhere. And just about everyone else is on a bike, too.
Here are some amazing stats:
* Holland has 18 million bicycles — 1.5 million more than inhabitants. And 84 percent of the Dutch population owns at least one bike.
*Holland has some 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) of cycling paths and nearly 3,000 miles (4,700 kilometers) of roads have special lanes for cyclists.
* There are at least a dozen different types of bicycles in Holland, according to the Netherlands Board of Tourism. You’ve heard of mountain bikes,… Continue reading
A tantalizing dish from Celebrity Cruises. Photo from Celebrity Cruises
No one — or almost no one — goes on a cruise expecting to lose weight. (A few specialty cruises do prepare diet or vegan meals intended to at least not add weight).
My friend Ed, a baby boomer who has struggled with a weight problem for years, has recently dropped 32 pounds through a strict diet averaging 1,300 calories a day supplemented by a vigorous walking routine. When I saw him a couple of months ago, I was impressed by his new look and his discipline at the dinner table.
He and his wife just got back from a Celebrity cruise in the Mediterranean that sorely tested his resolve, however. So I asked him how the diet went onboard, and here was his reply:
“The most difficult aspect of the trip for me was staying true to my year-old… Continue reading
Lee’s Summit, Missouri, hopes to attract multi-generational visits featuring baby boomer grandparents. Photo from Lee’s Summit Visitors Council.
Lee’s Summit, Missouri — a city of about 90,000 people and part of the Kansas City greater metropolitan area — is targeting baby boomer travelers who are planning to take multi-generational trips in the near future, hoping to capture some of that growing market.
I’ve written a number of times about the growing baby boomer travel trend of multi-generational travel — going on trips with your kids and grandkids, often three generations at once — such as in this piece, which focuses on boomers traveling with their grandkids, and this piece, which identifies a multi-generational trend in taking river cruises.
Lee’s Summit’s tourism sector — the Visitors Council, Chamber of Commerce and some private travel-related businesses — did some research and found that one out of three “baby boomers… Continue reading
American Cruise Lines’ Queen of the Mississippi. Photo from American Cruise Lines
I’ve written several times previously about the hot European river cruising market (most recently here).
But the U.S. river cruising market is getting torrid as well, thanks in large part to American Cruise Lines, a family-owned company whose six small ships cruise rivers and waterways throughout America. Nearly three dozen itineraries range from the islands of New England to Alaska’s Inside Passage, the Intracoastal Waterway of the southeastern U.S. to the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, and many points between — including the mighty Mississippi.
Late last week I attended a luncheon in New York City with American Cruise Line executives aboard one of their ships, the Independence, a three-year-old vessel that holds a maximum of 104 passengers.
The Independence was temporarily docked at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan after completing… Continue reading
A stony-faced Queen’s Guard.
An Australian publication recently nominated candidates for the four worst tourists of the past few years. (To my knowledge, none are baby boomer travelers.)
Here are the four, with names omitted to protect the innocent:
1. Everyone who has been to London has no doubt seen the Queen’s Guards who march and stand stony-faced in front of Buckingham Palace, and I’m sure there have been a number of tourists over the years who have tried to make them laugh, smile, or even give the slightest reaction. And it never works — or almost never. In 2009, one young man from Colombia was so obnoxious in mimicking a guardsman’s gait as he marched solemnly along that the guardsman broke ranks and went over to give the tourist an angry shove from behind. And really, who could blame him?
2. Halfway around the world, three British tourists,… Continue reading
The fabled Inca site Machu Picchu reached by “glamping” in Peru. Photo from Austin Adventures
In a previous post I talked about “glamping” — a contraction of “glamorous camping” — that seems ideal for baby boomer travelers who still seek adventure but don’t want to sleep on hard ground in tents anymore.
Some lodges have taken up the concept, offering roomy tents with beds in them — a creative piece of marketing — and now Austin Adventures (formerly Austin-Lehman), one of the premier adventure travel companies in the U.S., is offering a Peruvian trip called “Glamping on the Inca Trail,” with five departures in 2014.
It’s a 10-day, nine-night trip that leads from Lima to Machu Picchu via Cusco and the legendary Inca Trail, complete with plenty of high-altitude trekking that provides incredible views and takes you through a number of other Inca sites and an Andean… Continue reading
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