Pensioners are increasingly traveling abroad and also staying away longer.
Older people are today a purchasing power group and, according to the travel industry, the number of pensioners traveling is increasing sharply.
One of the explanations for the increase in travel is that many older people have become better off. There are also more trips specially adapted to the needs of older people.
The tour operator Ving has produced statistics for SVT showing that the group over 65 years of age last year made up 18 percent of the number of travelers. In 2011, it was only 7 percent.
The travel destinations are often the same as for younger people – Thailand, the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands.
Traveling further away
In addition, those over 65 are away for 50 percent longer on average, compared to travelers under 65.
– The average length of stay for pensioners who travel is even longer, two weeks, but this is partly due to the fact that there are some who travel for a really long time and perhaps stay for a couple of months at the Mediterranean in the winter, says Charlotte Hallencreutz, head of information at Ving.
According to the company Smart senior, seniors spend 70 billion on travel. The company's CEO points to seniors as increasingly important to the travel industry.
– It is a group with strong purchasing power. We see a strong upward trend in seniors traveling more and more, and spending more and more money on traveling, says CEO Mathias Lang to SVT.
The company defines seniors not just as retirees, but anyone over the age of 55. In their surveys, four out of five seniors say they travel abroad every year. A full 41 percent say they travel abroad several times a year.
Source: svt.se
