Tour Operators Reignited by Vaccinated Seniors Restless to Travel

During the last several months, countless tour operators have resumed tours, conducting business much differently than prior to the pandemic with fewer guests, social distancing, and health screening requirements. While those businesses were among those hardest hit by the pandemic, widespread vaccinations are assisting them in welcoming back an important market: older travelers itching to travel again. A UK study tells that story—77 percent of older respondents to a recent 2021 survey by Silver Travel Advisor, a website devoted to travel by those over 50, said they plan to book travel within six months of being vaccinated. Furthermore, 86 percent said they would spend as much or more on travel in the next year while adding they missed overseas travel even more than hugging their grandchildren. Those older travelers are incredibly valuable in the travel industry. In the United Kingdom alone, people older than 50 represent just below 60 percent of the country’s travel and tourism spend—in fact, $3 billion (£2.2 billion) more than millennials. Travelers in that age group are responsible for more than a third of all bed-night stays by British visitors. And in recent months, many over the age of 50 have been booking trips in large numbers. Numerous tour operators have seen increased bookings by such travelers—like the women-only Wild Terrains, for whom women older than 55 served as the driving force for 40 percent of the jump in bookings from the previous year for trips starting as soon as May. And Quasar Expeditions, a Galapagos Islands-based cruise operator, is receiving inquiries for travel from June onward largely from guests older than 65. Seventy percent, in fact—a figure 30 percent more than in previous years. All the while, tours operators remain fastidious with precautions despite the vaccinations. “The steps we take (such as training all tour leaders