July 05, 2004

Aging Boomers and Travel Best Practices

Candy Harrington, author of "Barrier Free Travel: A Nuts And Bolts Guide For Wheelers And Slow Walkers" shares this insight on best practices in the travel industry.

Households headed by a person age 55 to 64 spend 52% more than the national average on hotel and motels according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Couple that with...

People over 65 years old comprise just 12% of the population, but they
comprise 34% of the disability population.
(1997 - US Census Bureau)

And...

The number of Americans aged 65 and older is projected to increase 135%
between 1995 and 2050
, according to the Census Bureau.

And you can start to see why the more successful inclusive (accessible)
travel models tend to at least make their product/destination more appealing
to this age group.

Posted by rollingrains at July 5, 2004 06:25 AM | TrackBack