At the end of 2008 I will turn 50 and become an official member of the club "Boomer Women" - Recognizing that this is not my mother's version of 50, I have decided to embrace this upcoming milestone in my life. Instead of overwhelming depression and fear, I feel liberated and excited anticipating this milestone.
Who are the members of this new sorority I will soon belong to, and what effect are they having on Tourism and Online Marketing? Intuitively, I knew that this was a powerful demographic, one that has been under the marketer's radar for a long time, and a group that has not been fully acknowledged or understood by the travel industry. My research into Boomer Women has proven that not only was my initial hypothesis correct, it had more layers and a bigger impact on the tourism industry than I had imagined.
Boomer Women- The Facts The travel industry should take a closer look at this wealthy demographic; at the complexity of Boomer Woman as individuals, and the affect on their buying behavior. My research has uncovered the following facts about Boomer Women:
- Every 7 seconds another Boomer in the US alone turns 50!
- By 2010 over 43% of the population in the US will be over 50.
- One out of every 5 adults today in the US is a female over 50
Boomer Woman are healthier, more confident and are one of the biggest market contributors making travel decisions today. Interestingly enough they feel happier and more optimistic than their younger counterparts, and feel that their greatest life achievements are still ahead of them.
This is an educated and fearless group. In the past 15 years women collectively have started 70% of all new businesses. Boomer woman are college educated, have acquired a serious earning power, and are in better shape than ever before. 60% of Boomer women feel at least 7 years younger than their actual age.
Boomer Woman have spent the majority of their life taking care of others. The demands on them have finally started to lessen, and Boomer Woman tend not to feel guilty about embracing this stage in life. They are turning their attention to themselves and this emerging focus is not an isolated, introverted experience but one they want to share with others. For Boomer Women, "My Time" means more time with Girlfriends, Family and Community.
Travel for the Boomer Woman is time to re-connect, rejuvenate, learn, try new things and build life long memories with friends and family. Traveling is one of the top gifts this group buys for others, or purchase for themselves. These trips are not solely focused on the traditional fly and flop beach vacations, but are rapidly expanding in the areas of Adventure Travel and Travel with a purpose. Researching travel online has become one of their top uses of the Internet.
Marketing Travel Online to Boomer WomenBoomer Women and Women in general are relatively ignored by the travel industry. Travel websites have now begun to categorize vacations by experience such as spa or cruise, reacting to the new kind of online consumer. Marketers have started to engage consumers in purchasing experiences instead of simply hotel rooms or other travel products.
Marketers have also started embracing the social media environment – understanding that their audiences have changed the way they research travel. These channels have helped to identify for the marketer the type of vacation a traveler is researching or planning, but they have not dug down further to market to specific demographics within the experiences.
Where the travel industry has left money on the table is in neglecting, or misunderstanding the complexity and power of the Boomer Women market segment specifically as a target demographic.
I researched over a dozen top hotel brand sites (including Marriott, Hilton, Fairmont and Starwood) and nowhere on the home page, or even within their packages pages, was anything easily identifiable that spoke directly to women - of any age. Kimpton Hotels was the only good example I could find of a hotel company clearly identifying right on their navigation bar that women in general are a unique segment.
Quoted from their website they state, "At Kimpton, we feel it's important, now more than ever, to define what it means to be a woman traveler. Thus, our "Women In Touch" program was born." Kimpton's Wine, Women and Fun" features an innovative experience developed by Boomer Woman Leslie Sbrocco, based on her book "Wine for Women", the first wine book written exclusively for women.
This is a great example of incorporating the four critical elements of website strategy to capture your share of this growing market. Amber Hayes, CEO of Adventure Engine states, "When marketing online to this demographic you need to Engage, Relate, Inform and Convert."
Boomer Woman are looking for vacation ideas that speak directly to them. Hoteliers are missing the mark on "Milestone Marketing" creating experiences and packages that celebrate significant turning points in boomer women's lives. Imagine an "I am turning 50, girlfriends getaway" – one that that helps you plan this important right of passage for yourself or your girlfriends?
This could include makeovers for the group, a "live your fantasy weekend" along with unexpected surprises such as a pre arranged "nail taxi" to take you to VIP section at a live theatrical show!
It is time for Marketer's to engage unique audiences such as Boomer Women for instance, and to speak directly to them in order to carve out a piece of the increasingly saturated and cluttered online travel space.
Want to connect with Bommer Women as Marketers? Create an area for Boomer Woman on your site, and engage your consumer with interesting packages or experiences. Then provide the information they need to easily make their buying decision simple. Boomer Women are obsessed by the details. They have to see, feel and understand what the whole vacation experience is about. This is extremely important as they feel it is their primary responsibility to make each trip count, and become a memorable experience for their girlfriends, nieces, grandchildren or spouse that they are traveling with.
Conversions will easily follow if you market directly to Boomer Woman, and show you understand what they are all about. Boomer woman are computer savvy, complex and not only do they own 75% of the nation's wealth - they purchase 80% of luxury travel!
Don't you think it is about time the Travel industry put some thought into marketing to them? Isn't it about time to determine the "purse-onality" of such an engaged group of consumers?
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About Patricia Brusha -E-Analyst & Co-Founder
Patricia Brusha is the co-founder of www.acoupleofchicks.com - an Internet Marketing Company focused on travel and tourism, and www.onlinerevealed.com [Online Revealed Canada] – the Canadian Tourism e-Marketing Conference produced in association with Yahoo! Canada. She has spent 26 years working in the Hospitality Industry in the United States and Canada in the fields of Sales, Hotel Marketing, Internet Distribution and Revenue Management. Together, the "Chicks" have published over 25 articles, produced a successful online marketing Blog; www.ideahatching.com , launched www.chicksaway.com – a new social media portal for women who travel, and have worked with such notable brands as Marriott International, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Yahoo! Their popular e-marketing workshops have also lead to the upcoming book focused on the "Chicks" non-intimidating approach to marketing online. 
