Silver Travel Advisor is opening a training and research division aimed at educating the travel trade on selling to the over-50s market.
The new Silver Travel Training division from the consumer advice and review site is launching with two research services as well as training packages for industry workshops and for companies.
The division will be headed by former Mature Times editor Jane Silk, who has also worked in marketing and branding for more than 20 years.
The training workshops will aim to “develop, inform and educate” operators and agents about the importance of the over-50s market and its sales potential.
Travel companies will be able to commission a specific research project using Silver Travel Advisor’s database or have their marketing strategies reviewed and receive advice on how to improve them.
The aim is to give travel companies a better understanding of how over-50s audiences think, how they research and buy, and how they can be reached more effectively.
Managing director, Debbie Marshall, said: “There are 20 million people aged 50 and over in this country and the good news is that they love travelling. But often they are not understood by younger marketing teams, who may lack empathy with older people and then wonder why sometimes their communications fail.
“So we are delighted to be launching this new division which will be headed by Jane Silk.”
Silk added: “We see so many professional marketers who base their knowledge of the over-50s on a tiny sample size – that is, what they think they know about their parents and grandparents.
“They don’t really appreciate what a very diverse audience the older market is and what careful segmentation it requires.”
To find out more, email service@silvertraveladvisor.com