Travel firms urged to become ‘longevity literate’ to tap into key market

Travel firms have been urged to become ‘longevity literate’ and ensure their teams and businesses are set up to cater for an ongoing generational shift in society.

Speakers at the Lata Expo event said more focus needed to be levelled at travellers aged over 50, with companies urged to place demographic change alongside climate and AI as an agenda priority.

Attendees were also encouraged to rethink established perceptions of an “average” life cycle to avoid missing out on customers who would previously not have been a priority based on expectations around age.

Generational balance specialist and author Avivah Wittenberg-Cox said companies needed to think in terms of four quarters of life, stretching from birth to age 100.

In this structure, those aged up to 25 fall in a ‘Grow’ bracket, while those aged 25-50 are in an ‘Achieve’ bracket. Two further segments, for those aged 50-75 and 75-100, are described as the ‘Become’ and ‘Harvest’ periods, meaning they are ripe for travel firms to target.

Wittenberg-Cox said: “Almost everything people know about ‘older people’ is wrong about the ‘older people’ you are about to become.

“This new ‘Q3’ consumer may not be what you’re expecting. They’re incredible future-focused, they’re extraordinarily active and they don’t see many limits to their lives.

“Almost 70% of them are hitting reset: personally, professionally or in their family. This isn’t your Q3 of yesteryear. People keep predicting the future based on historical data, but in this area that will tell you nothing and prepare you not at all for this rising generation.”

She added: “Check in your business who is spending the money and who has the budgets, and does your internal team that is talking to those people mirror them in any way at all.

“Most marketing teams I deal with are young people in their 20s who see 50-plus as one grey blob that is seriously unsexy.

“In order to talk to this Q3 customer it helps to have a generational balance within your organisation.”

Kathy Atkinson, chief executive of the Safer Tourism Foundation, agreed firms needed to recalibrate to cater for older customers, but also urged attendees to ensure they were supporting customers by ensuring they were gathering information in areas such as health conditions.

“Every year we see customers in trouble as their tour operator or travel agent didn’t know about a long term-health issue,” she said.

“Presenting someone with a medical questionnaire may well put them off, but there are ways to tactfully work out if the trip you are booking is the right one for them.

“Provided you ask them in the right way they will understand why it is relevant for you to get that information.”

Atkinson also highlighted the growing impact of heat on older travellers and urged firms to factor that in when creating itineraries by allowing for acclimatisation periods, taking account of humidity, allowing flexibility and having continency plans in place in case of extreme temperatures.

Awards winners

In addition to business sessions and meetings, Lata Expo also included the presentation of the association’s Lata Excellence Awards and ICRT Lata Responsible Tourism Awards.

In the Lata Excellence Awards, Pura Aventura was named tour operator of the year in the small category and Journey Latin America won in the large category.

Aqua Expeditions and Golden Galapagos were joint winners in the cruise operator of the year category, while UK tour operator Swoop Patagonia won best marketing campaign.

Art Hotels in Ecuador was named best boutique hotel, while Pikaia Lodge in the Galapagos won best lodge.

Fourteen organisations from Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru and Mexico were recognised in the ICRT Lata Responsible Tourism Awards, with gold winners including wildlife conservation tourism leaders Associação Onçafari, inclusive cultural tourism innovators Sama Sama International and local economic empowerment network Céu de Montanhas, all from Brazil.

They received the gold awards alongside regenerative agriculture champions Journey Mexico and Arca Tierra and Peruvian community‑led tourism developers Limatours.

The winners are automatically entered into the Global Responsible Tourism Awards, which are announced in November.