More Seniors Seek Adventure Activities

Posted on | January 21, 2010 | No Comments

The so-called experiential marketplace is seeing a surge in older consumers interested in adventure activities, such as wing-walking, biking tours, and global travel – a trend senior living communities may want to tap.

The New York Times reports on a new George Washington University study, which shows that the “the so-called experiential marketplace – sensation, education, adventure, and culture” is estimated at $56 billion and growing, and that the bulk of the growth is in the 65 and older age group. And with the first wave of baby boomers heading toward their golden years, experts expect the experiential sector to continue to swell with older consumers.

Senior living communities may want to take a fresh look at the scope of activities they currently offer residents, and consider reaching out to companies that specialize in older adventure travelers.

Here’s a quick look at some of those companies, as reported by The New York Times:

• The Grand Circle Corporation, a Boston-based company that specialized in older travelers, adventure tours have gone from 16 percent of passenger volume in 2001 to 50 percent for advance bookings this year, even as the average traveler’s age has risen to 68 from 62.
• At Exploritas, a nonprofit educational travel group previously known as Elderhostel, the proportion of people over 75 choosing adventure-tour options is up 27 percent since 2004. The sharpest growth has been in the over-85 crowd, more than 70 percent.
• At VBT, a bike touring company in Vermont that does rides in countries around the world, the number of bikers over 70 has doubled in the last 10 years.

And while there are some special challenges that come with experiential activities among older consumers – including travel medical insurance and how to pack and protect medications – those who have experience in the experiential marketplace say that, for the most part, older people are no less safe than young people engaged in the same activities.

“Some emergency medicine and rescue experts also say that older people might in fact be safer in adventurous, high-exertion activities and environments than their younger counterparts, or at least no less safe,” says The Times. “And some use an old-fashioned word to explain why: wisdom.”

Are senior living communities finding that residents are increasingly interested in activities that are more physically demanding? Or are rising acuity levels starting to create different activity categories for residents? Comment here or send feedback to ALFA’s editorial team (editor@alfa.org). Your input could be fodder for a future story in Assisted Living Executive magazine.

Read “Seeing Old Age as a Never-Ending Adventure,” from The New York Times.

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