From my visit to The New York Times Travel Show held at the Jacob K. Javits Center, N.Y.C. in January, it’s clear that boomers are a prime audience for many destinations. From Costa Rica to California, from Florida to the Philippines, from Morocco to Martinique, and everywhere else you can take a plane, ship, train or drive to visit, the post 50 market is on the move and so are their millennial children.
In fact, The New York Times announced that its annual Travel Show reached a new record of 30,099 participants during the three-day event —the highest attendance in the Show’s history.
The New York Times Travel Show reached a new record of more than 30,000 attendees.
So where do you want to travel during your life after 50?
I always like to see what places The New York Times Travel recommends each year. On the list of 52 for 2017, I’ve been to Canada (a variety of eastern and western cities), Detroit, Hamburg (Germany), Minneapolis, Kingston (Jamaica), Napa Valley (California), Sedona (Arizona), Madrid (Spain), Portland (Oregon), and yes, believe it or not South Bronx, N.Y., which is on the list. Since I was born in the Bronx I am curious to know more about this “industrial neighborhood’s revival!” That’s only 10 spots. Looks like I have much more traveling to do in my lifetime.
What’s Trending In Travel?
There were a few trends that I noticed from the panels at the Show. I also attended a media event sponsored by Trav Media, where I met with Convention and Visitor’s Bureau representatives to learn about their destinations and chat with Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) members to hear about their itineraries.
Travel is a huge business. While print travel publications have dwindled, there are more travel websites and blogs, podcasts, and social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to see and read about destinations. With Facebook Live you can share your trips right when they are happening.
♥ Travel Agents Are Still Needed: Elizabeth Harryman, Travel Editor, Westways Magazine, said that travel agents are still useful and can save you money. “They do this every day, you book a trip once or twice a year.” Travel agents are best to use when you want to book a cruise, as they have a better understanding of each cruise brand. Alejandro Zozaya, CEO of Apple Leisure Group, echoed that “consumers know a lot more” when planning a trip from reading travel websites, blogs and online information. Yet travel agents can help direct you to the best vacation because of their knowledge of what is available in the marketplace.
Leaders of the travel industry discussed trends at The New York Times Travel Show.
♥ Athenticity and Transformational Travel Is Popular: Writer Margie Goldsmith (an old friend from my corporate days) noted: “People want authentic and experiential travel. They want to eat at the same restaurants as the locals. Food is a big part of the experience.”
Margie Goldsmith is an adventurous travel writer during her life after 50.
♥ Safety Is Most Important: With the changing environment around the world, safety was a top concern. Elizabeth encouraged people to continue to travel. “A rabbi once said to me that to fear is to already start the process of dying. So go ahead and travel,” she said. CEO Zozaya noted that “7.5 million new passports have been processed this past year, so more people will be traveling outside the country.”
Elizabeth Harryman, Travel Editor, Westways magazine, encouraged people to continue to travel.
♥ Technology is Impacting The Travel Industry. Arnold Donald, President and CEO, Carnival Corporation, talked about sensors that are worn on cruise ships. “It’s the size of a quarter. When you are using your sensor, we know where you are on the ship at anytime. It’s encrypted so no one else can use it,” said CEO Donald.
The Carnival Splendor cruises at sea in the Bahamas. Personal sensors provide added safety and customization while on board. Photo by Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Lines
♥ Personalized service goes beyond cruises. Now there is text messaging to alert you that your room is ready at hotels and apps to help you navigate a city during your stay. “Digital is hospitable,” said Brian King, Global Officer from Marriott International. He reinforced the two generations of travelers his team caters to, “empty-nester boomers who are going to take trips they have always wanted to take because they have more disposable income with he kids out of the house,” and millennials, who have a huge interest to travel, are communal and enjoy tribal travel.”
Cruising The World & Around the USA
Cruises are an easy way to travel for both boomers and millennials and multi-generational cruises are available providing choices for every age group. ” Traveling by ship has become a vacation in itself,” said CLIA Chairperson and Carnival CEO Donald. “When cruising, you wake up in the morning and find the world outside has changed.”
♥ Ocean Cruises: Carnival will be introducing Carnival Journeys later this year, ocean cruises that are 9 days and longer from places like California to Alaska. These itineraries are conducive to retirees who have more time to travel. They also provide voluntourism experiences for people who want to have an interactive volunteer experience while cruising.
Carnival will offer longer cruises from Long Beach, CA to Alaska.
I was eager to hear about new wellness trends that are being introduced on cruise ships. MSC Cruises, a European owned company, is partnering with Technogym to launch the Wellness Experience in April 2017, including gym clothes for passengers and spa experiences.
MSC has partnered with Technogym for wellness experiences.
Princess Cruises is enhancing the onboard experience with menus from award-winning chefs like SHARE restauranteur Curtis Stone and Chocolate Journeys, an exclusive arrangement with Norman Love, one of the world’s foremost experts in chocolate. This one sounds absolutely divine! I must experience this chocolate extravaganza during my life after 50! (Note: Will have to send this out to my boyfriend L who also loves dark chocolate. Maybe for next Valentine’s Day!)
♥ River and Yacht Cruises: For those who prefer small ships, river cruises are available from a variety of different companies. Viking is one of my favorites, having traveled with them the past two years, once on the Douro River and last year on the Rhine. They have superb customer service.
Beautiful places along the Viking River Cruise ‘Rhineland Discovery.’
There’s also Windstar Cruises which provides yacht cruising with new cruises going to Alaska and Asia in 2018; and American Cruise Lines for boomers who like river and coastal cruising in the USA to places like Mississippi, Alaska and New England.
Windstar Cruises are on luxurious yachts.
American Cruise Lines offers Paddlewheeler and Coastal Ships
So Much to See and Do On Land Too
There are many exciting places to explore during my life after 50 – in the USA and abroad. From getting to know St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the USA to hiking in Oregon’s Tualatin Valley, from relaxing at spa resorts in Scottsdale, Arizona to navigating Tucson’s UNESCO City of Gastronomy; from practicing yoga at Le Monastère des Augustines’ in Quebec or maybe even in India one day to exploring the culinary creations and spectacular scenery of Croatia, which had a huge booth at the Show – I can’t wait to be transformed by it all!
St. Augustine, Florida is the oldest city in the USA.
Will I ever travel to Nepal? REI Adventures just makes it look so easy to get there!
Leave a comment and share what places you are inspired to visit during your post 50 years.
Happy travels!
Judi
The river cruises are definitely on my bucket list. Thanks for the roundup of the Travel Sho!
Michele, you definitely have to take a Viking River Cruise during your life after 50. It’s the best.
My husband and I traveled a lot when the kids were still at home. We’ve been to all 48 continental states, but I really want to go to Alaska and Ireland. We’ve stopped traveling for a while to be a caregiver to my mom, but one day we’ll hit the road again!
Rena, sounds like you are big travelers. Being a caregiver is one of the most important roles we play as adult children. I was a caregiver to my mom and was glad I could be there for her when she needed me.
We do the tall ships. Star Clippers. So worth it!
Heading to France in a couple of weeks. Sooo looking forward to this!
Diane,
Lucky you to be going to France. Enjoy your travels. Will have to check out the Star Clippers.
Really interesting information about future trends. The yoga retreat in Quebec intrigued me and I already checked it out. Might consider going to the travel show next year!
Janice, definitely recommend The NY Times Travel Show. It is a three day event and filled with wonderful seminars on different topics related to travel.
I’d love to return to Paris with my sweetie. Surfing in Costa Rica or Hawaii are always favorites.
Jacqueline, all sound like exciting places to travel.
We\’re just back from a 12 night Azamara cruise to the Sea of Cortez. We were definitely in the bottom quartile for age on this cruise. I like the smaller ships and ability to visit smaller ports, but I didn\’t feel with my \”people\” on this one. Some years ago, we took a multigenerational Alaskan cruise. Our group of 10 ranged in age from 13 to 90. It was a great family vacation. We all did diverse activities and went on different shore excursions during the day, and then we\’d meet up for dinner. I have a perhaps irrational desire to go on a cruise to Antarctica. This is not shared by Mr. Excitement, so it\’s probably not happening before the polar ice cap melts.
Suzanne, I was following some of your postings from your cruise. It looked lovely. Antarctica sounds like an adventure.
Great to see a photo of you with Margie – we travelled together in Quebec several years ago. She looks as beautiful as ever. You really took excellent notes at the NYT Travel Show…the trip that caught my attention the most was the cruise with Norman Love, one of the world’s experts in chocolate. What a dream come true that would be! Also didn’t know Windstar would be in Asia in 2018 – thanks for all the info
Michele, glad you found the post helpful. Yes, the Princess cruise with Norman Love chocolate desserts is high on my list too!
Thanks for the terrific recap! We were thinking of going this year but our schedule just didn’t work out. Sounds like it was well attended and really informative!
Sue, it interesting to hear different perspectives on travel from execs in the business and from journalists, especially with everything going on in the world today.
Like you, we love Viking Cruises (we’ve cruised on the “Viking Star” in the Baltic, but not on one of Viking’s river ships yet). We’d love to sail on the Douro River with them in Portugal :-). And Windstar Cruises is terrific too – we really enjoyed all the watersports and beautiful beaches in French Polynesia. Fun to dream of the next trip!
Glad to hear you like Viking Cruises and Windstar too. Hope you get to go on the Douro. You can read all my posts from that trip on my Travel and Leisure page. Happy travels!
Well I am post 60, but I want to go to Paris and Greece…and maybe Costa Rica!
Renee, Paris is wonderful. I can’t wait to go to Greece this summer! Costa Rica sounds like fun too.
So many places to go, so little time! I maintain a bucket list, which I slowly tick away at, but for the past few years I’ve sort of just been going where the winds blow me. And I’ve done a lot of travel to NYC and LA, since I have grandkids in both spots. I would like to get back to London, to visit Africa and India for the first time, and take a river cruise.
Carole, NYC and LA are great places to visit. How lucky you are to have grandchildren in both cities. Ooh, London and Africa and India sound exciting to travel to. And of course, I love river cruises.
From all that you considered at the New York Times travel show, what’s now at the top of your list. Where next?
Kristin, I’m going to Greece for the first time this summer. And since I’ve never been on an ocean cruise, I’d like to experience one and see if I like that style of travel. I do really enjoy river cruising but ocean cruising is different.