Travel brands recognised for marketing to over-50s

Ambassador Cruise Line, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, Jules Verne, Saga Holidays, Sandals and Silver Travel Advisor were among travel brands recognised for effective marketing to over-50s at the Silver Marketing Awards.

The results highlight how travel companies and their in-house and agency teams are getting better at tuning into the needs of the older demographic, creating campaigns which maximise appeal to this lucrative demographic, according to organiser the Silver Marketing Association.

More than half the top awards went to marketing teams from across the travel industry and around 40% of nominees receiving a highly commended accreditation were from the sector.  

The awards were judged by a panel of more than 20 professionals working across a diverse range of industry sectors. 

A shortlist and winners for 11 categories were confirmed after assessing a record number of entries.

Silver Marketing Association managing director Debbie Marshall said: “While these results show there’s a lot of great activity in travel that other industries can learn from, this third year of our annual awards has seen a record number of entries from across many different industries selling products and services to the over 50s. 

“With winning entrants such as Stannah, CareUK and the RSPCA, the quality and variety of all submissions have really buoyed us as an organisation dedicated to promoting best practice and ethical marketing to the silver sector. 

“The over 50s demographic is a powerful, influential group that is too often ignored or misrepresented by mainstream marketing, so it’s great to see work which addresses this to ensure marketers don’t make mistakes that brands can’t afford.”

The silver sector now accounts for 35% of the UK population and controls three-quarters of the UK’s wealth, the organisation noted.