The over sixty-fives are the generation whose internet usage is expanding fastest and who are most eager to travel, a perfect combination for the online travel market. Jan Borgwardt, Client Director of LBi Germany AG, a full-service online marketing consultancy, found, however, that the internet market has not yet reacted to this trend, "although it has been a trend for quite a few years now!"

Borgwardt, an expert on online marketing campaigns, was himself astonished about his findings particularly because pensioners are typical online users – even if only as ROPO consumers – i.e. people who do research online yet purchase offline.

Jan Borgwardt, online marketing consultant (LBi Germany AG)

"My research leads me to believe that people in their silver years are still seeking face-to-face contact when making a final purchase because online-information catering to their special needs is still not available to them in an easy to find or easy to understand manner – despite the fact that their numbers, online, are increasing by leaps and bounds," he told 4Hoteliers. "They are simply not being informed enough, online," he said.

Despite being retired, many people keep on travelling

Demographic changes in countries like Germany and Japan see fewer young people entering the travel market, proportion to population. The older population today is the generation which grew up in booming 60s and 70s, a period of unprecedented mobility. "Just because these people are retired now does not mean that they have lost interest in moving around… particularly now, where travel has become so affordable and even more accessible. Thus the increase in older people finding pleasure in travel," Borgwardt said. He added that young people today will be the pensioners of tomorrow and that OTAs need to open up to this fact.

Borgwardt calls the market "overdosed" with online travel agencies. He believes that OTA's have unintentionally overlooked the pensioners market, tailoring their offers towards young people and family's instead.

Seniors do not at all look for "old people travel"

Seniors are a motor for growth in the travel markets. However, few sites have understood this. Borgwardt told 4Hoteliers that older people are not looking for "old people travel", however, they would like offers to also take them into account. "Considering that 53% of the over 60 years olds give more money out while traveling than the under 50 year olds, it really is astounding that OTAs have not themselves jumped onto this bandwagon," Borgwardt said.

When researching Senior Travel in the internet, search engines results led Borgwardt to language courses, insurance policies and the like – "everything other than travel!" Even established media such as Lonely Planet, as well as listings on Amazon do not place golden-age travel on the top of any of their pages, Borgwardt said.

He did find several online communities offering answers to the needs of elderly travelers – lamenting that these sites are not mainstream travel sites, regardless of how good they may be.

Borgwardt's conclusion: "People over 50 are looking for a meaning in their lives and travel is one of the ways for them to achieve this. Many seek that one special thing that few people do – others prefer to go on the beaten track in larger groups. By the time they book a trip, pensioners, like their younger counterparts, simply want dependability, ease of booking, a good source of information, comfort, safety and friendliness. OTAs need to recognize this and begin focusing some of their attention on the needs of the silver traveller – a recognizably spending-happy clientele."

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Roland Wildberg is Travel Writer and Correspondent based in Berlin, Germany. He started as an Editor for the National daily 'Die Welt' (tourism section), later on switched to a freelanced career and nowadays mainly publishes on the Web. Observing the hospitality industry always has fascinated him as it looks like the perfect combination of sleeping and writing – work-live-balance as its best.

Roland also heads the annual 4Hoteliers ITB Berlin news micro-site journalist and video/photo teams for the 5th consecutive years.