Retirees were a lucrative client base for travel advisors. With more free time on their hands, older generations tend to spend more time-and money-exploring the globe.
However, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has changed the circumstances, and retirees, who are at greater risk when they contract the virus, have less of an interest in taking trips now. That doesn't mean that they won't be back once the treatments and vaccines are available, but travel advisors should target them in new ways.
To gain more insight into the minds of retirees, TravelPulse spoke to Misty Belles, managing director, global public relations for Virtuoso, to find out the best way to reach out to this group of avid travelers.
TravelPulse (TP): How will luxury travel be changed in the short term with fewer retirees traveling?
Misty Belles (MB): Retirees are a prime market in the travel industry. Unencumbered by work and school calendars, they travel more, for longer periods of time, and spend more as a result. According to a joint Virtuoso and YouGov study, affluent retirees were projected to spend $10,400 to $15,500 on travel.
With the pandemic, all of that came to a halt. To be fair, travel is down across all sectors as is the intent to travel for all generations except the 18- to 25-year-old set. However, a survey of Virtuoso clients shows that retirees will be the slowest generation to return to travel, with only about 20 percent saying they would travel now, simply because they are classified as higher risk for Covid.
TP: When retirees return to the market, how will they travel? Will they return to the same types of trips they were interested in before?
MB:Pent-up demand will lead to a travel boom once there's an increased comfort level, either due to a vaccine or because treatments see greater success rates. If multigenerational travel grew out of the 2008 recession, the next iteration of this trend will be multi-family travel. After being separated for so long, families will look to reunite and enjoy shared experiences to make new memories. We're already seeing increased demand for villas and private homes. Requests for these kinds of accommodations will continue to grow.
TP: Are retirees booking "revenge travel" right now? What do these trips look like?
MB: I wouldn't call them "revenge trips" so much as "go for it" trips. No one ever expected we would lose the right to ability, which is why certain trips were thought of as "someday" instead of "today." But this pandemic has made everyone release that what we thought was a right is actually a privilege, and it's one that won't be taken for granted again. Dream trips will get bumped up on the priority list because the threat of losing the ability to go is now a reality we've not known before.
Of course, there is a subset of retirees who want to travel here and now, who are willing to jump on that plane as soon as it's allowed. And for them, there is likely a degree of "revenge" over having been held back from enjoying the trips they planned earlier this year.
TP: How can advisors target this market at the moment? Does Virtuoso find that this segment is interested in booking trips that are farther out?
MB: Advisors should continue to check in with their retiree clients and let them know that now is the time to book those big trips, especially while cancellation and postponement policies are so lax. There is nothing to lose from planning now, and everything to gain in terms of choice. For Virtuoso advisors, many are taking the opportunity to introduce their clients to Virtuoso Wanderlist, a web-based planning platform designed to inspire their clients to explore and dream. By letting clients self-select their favorite destinations and experiences for themselves as well as all of their travel companions, it gives advisors incredible insight into how to design trips that their clients will want to book now and in the future.
TP: For retirees who are traveling, what types of trips are they looking for?
MB: Beach vacations are the top draw, in part because of the accessibility right now. Beach locales also let people spread out, enjoy the outdoors provide some much-needed R&R. We also find that the isolation that comes from quarantining, being separated from friends and family for extended periods of time, and losing the ability to enjoy activities that were part of their everyday lifestyle is all taking a toll on mental health.
Trips with a wellness component are now more important than ever, as are those that are more active and include wide-open spaces. Lastly, while there are still many unknowns in terms of when travel can fully resume, there is plenty of demand for dream destinations. The top 10 destinations people are dreaming about right now follow:
1. Italy
2. France
3. Australia
4. Greece
5. Japan
6. South Africa
7. U.K.
8. Iceland
9. Spain
10. New Zealand
TP: Would retirees be more inclined to travel with rapid COVID-19 testing?
MB: Widespread rapid testing is instrumental in restoring consumer confidence and essential in opening travel corridors. There are airlines already doing this with great success, like Lufthansa where they can process up to 20,000 tests per day at Frankfurt Airport. When we recently polled Virtuoso clients to determine consumer sentiment around flying and cruising, they shared the following actions as the most significant in restoring their confidence around travel right now:
-56 percent said limited capacity on planes and ships
-48 percent said cleaning protocols in place such as those outlined by the Healthy Sail Panel
-42 percent said pre-travel screening prior to boarding a flight or cruise ship
-35 percent said only real-time testing prior to boarding a flight or cruise ship
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
