Baby Boomers Ready To Take More Trips in 2015

Baby boomers hit the streets en masse in the world’s most-visited cities for dream vacations that some saved their entire careers for, and looking to 2015 these travelers intend to keep motor coaches packed and tour groups filled.

The best news for the travel industry: 51% of travelers ages 50 and older say they’ll save more money specifically for travel next year, a new American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) report on 2015 travel trends found. About half of them also say they’ll be traveling more next year compared to this year.

The only catch: The report says the 50+ traveler market spends about $120 billion annually, much less than the student and millennial market, whose spending power is about $200 billion each year.

Half of these older travelers cite cost as the number one barrier to traveling next year, but they are determined to plan well in advance for 2015 and take more trips for less.

Still, baby boomers are a big factor in travel and 97% of them say they’ll take at least one domestic trip in 2015, more than double the 45% who say they’ll take at least one international trip. About 47% say they’ll take more domestic trips next year than they did this year, compared to only 23% saying they’ll take more international trips next year than in 2014.

Summer vacations will likely be the money shots with this group next year, and these trips have the highest percentage at 54%. Part of this travel generation also plans to travel solo, with 28% saying they’ll go it alone.

The cacophony of media coverage around the Ebola crisis didn’t impact 50+ travelers, as 82% say the average of four to five trips they have planned next year aren’t affected.

See the full report below.

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