Marketing the leisure experience to baby boomers and older tourists

Abstract

Tourism is big business, especially for the increasing numbers of baby boomers who are becoming increasingly targeted by marketers and travel companies as a growing market. This is because many baby boomers are healthier, financially well off, better educated and have a greater desire for novelty, escape and authentic experiences than previous cohorts of retirees. The baby boomer generation is a prime example of a niche market firmly embracing the notion that the next wave of successful tourism businesses will be those geared towards the experience economy. In recent years, ‘boomers’ have demonstrated that they are willing participants in new and adventurous forms of leisure and are opting for more physically challenging and ‘adrenalin driven’ experiences. Because of this emerging trend, marketing campaigns need to be tailored to emphasize the leisure experience and to include actual statements from older people based on their perceived feelings about the tourism experience. In seeking to bring greater attention to this issue, this article seeks to first detail the changing leisure interests of today’s older tourists before concluding with a discussion of key marketing considerations for this growing cohort group. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.