If Gen X and Gen Y marketers can understand Baby Boomer women, they can make money. Read about Vibrant Nation's survey and why Boomer women want what they want.
Boomer Women’s Travel
Almost all women love to travel and almost all Baby Boomer women can afford to travel. A new survey by VibrantNation.com has released info on women’s travel trends. Here are some of the most relevant statistics about Boomer women:
- 79% have already booked their vacation(s) for the year by mid-January.
- 42% spend over $2,500 per person on every vacation.
- Almost 80% of these women made their own travel decisions, including the 63% who are married.
- 40% will travel outside of the US for their vacations.
Over the next 10 years, Boomer women will be the fastest growing travel demographic.
Marketing Baby Boomers
Marketers and travel writers can really take advantage of this. Boomer women use the internet for online research, because they had to spend long hours researching things in libraries, back when they were in college. They are used to doing research. The travel industry and writers can hook these Boomer women with easy-to-read, interesting, online information.
Travel Costs
Baby Boomer women care about costs, but not as much as older Senior travelers. (Baby Boomers are not Seniors and should never be called Seniors.) Boomers want value, and value means:
- A pretty good vacation
- Not the cheapest (or a bad location)
- Not the most expensive (European 3 stars or upscale hostels)
- Still fun
What Boomers Want
Boomers want it done their way. As for tours, most Boomers shy away from long “luxury coach” (bus) tours, unless there is a darn good reason to go. Unlike Seniors, Boomers are usually happy to drive their own, or rented, cars (in the US); and Boomers are happy to take trains (in Europe) once they have learned how easy this is.
Upscale adventurous Boomers may be forced into bus tours if their plummeting discretionary-spending pushes them, kicking and screaming, into buses. However, buses are definitely not the first choice for a cohort that grew up in a time when a guy (or a guy and a girl) could hitchhike, safely, to the next city without ending up in a ditch. Even people who never had to bum rides, can understand these two extremes of travel:
- Bus – Confining, boring, like being back in high school where the driver will yell if anyone breaks the rules
- Hitchhiking in the 60s – A traveler never knew when they would get to their destination. The driver (usually another young hippie of the same age) might be going somewhere that sounded better, so plans were made on the fly.
- Calling a bus something else does not change the fact that it’s still a bus.
Marketing to Boomer Women
Boomer women are recession-proof travelers. The Vibrant Nation study showed that:
- Boomer women like to experience different cultures.
- 58% like “moderate” or “extensive” physical activity.
- Boomer women travel to learn (31% have taken vacations with an educational component and 57% would pay more for this.)
Individualistic and Defiant
Why do Boomer women love to learn? Well, these are women who had to break the mold. They had to change the rules as they went through life. Boomer women were told they were not allowed to wear jeans (or pants) to high school. Boomer women were not allowed to take woodworking classes. Boomer women were passed over for promotions because they were women.
- Smart Boomer Women have always valued education and learning, because that’s how they outsmarted the system.
- Education is a way of life for trend-setting Boomer women.
Anyone who gives Boomer women what they want, at a good value, will make a lot of money from this wealthy, well-educated group.
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Christina Gregoire - Christina Gregoire writes about divorce, fashion, and baby boomers. Her forte is explaining complex ideas in simple language.
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