Revealed: Baby Boomer travel trends for 2024

The joy of working with Baby Boomers is they don’t hesitate to tell you what they want, what they like and what they don’t like. So, when it comes to booking them in for their next getaway via our sister company, Travel at 60, we hear no shortage of expressed desires and opinions about the destinations they love — or don’t love!

Over the course of the last financial year, we’ve gathered the leading holiday trends that Australia’s most affluent demographic are following. Let’s start by asking the question: where are our Boomers travelling?

Which destinations are at the top of the Boomer bucket list?

Prior to COVID-19, our split of international and domestic was 41% domestic and 59% international.

The data for the last 12 months continues to show clients are still sticking close to home, with new stats indicating a 64% to 36% split of domestic to international travel respectively.

International travel statistics

Although we have started to see a softening in European enquiries due to ongoing unrest, our booking data indicates the most popular holidays in the last 12 months were:

• Australia (see breakdown below),
• New Zealand,
• United Kingdom,
• South Pacific,
• Japan,
• Singapore,
• Asia – including India (no doubt skewed due to community holiday groups organised),
• United States.

Of particular interest is data relating to Singapore. Singapore experienced an increase in visitation this year — according to our stats, this is primarily due to Singapore to Sydney and Brisbane one way cruises.

Asia as a whole experienced widespread popularity as a travel destination. One of these destinations that evidenced great interest is India, thanks to a community holiday organised and led by Travel at 60.

Domestic travel statistics

Australian destinations* continue to lead the way as older retirees stay close to home:

• Outback Queensland,
• Central Queensland/Capricorn Coast,
• Norfolk Island,
• South Australia (Kangaroo island and Murray Princess cruising led the way in this inquiry),
• Central Australia,
• Top End (including Kimberley),
• Hunter Valley,
• Cairns & surrounds/The Cape,
• Multi-destination experiences such as The Ghan & Indian Pacific.

* Note: Data may be skewed by product Travel at 60 has actively promoted in 2024.

The popularity of Australia remains solid, both for grey nomads (with 64% of new cars purchased in Australia being purchased by the over 60s) and our group and cruise travellers.

Travel at 60’s audience has a large age range and we see a sliding increase in closer-to-home destinations as our clients age:

• 55-65 years: International 35%; Domestic 65%
• 66-75 years: International 17%; Domestic 73%
• 76-85 years: International 11%; Domestic 79%
• Over 86 years: International 2%; Domestic 98%

It is important that this behaviour is taken into consideration when targeting older travellers, as it highlights a shift in demand in the travel market that is direct tied to age.

What is the average spend on travel for a Baby Boomer?

Pre-pandemic, the average amount paid by a holidaying Boomer booking through Travel at 60 was $4,500. That average has continued to increase and is now at $6,450. Longer trips, a return to international travel and pent up demand are all driving these increases.

The length of trips offshore also remains high, with the ongoing sentiment: ‘If we’re going, we’re going to make the most of the increased airfares and do more in one trip, rather than multiple trips’. Combine this with a sense of ageing, decreasing mobility and other health factors and time is not on their side!

What types of holidays have boomers booked over the last 12-months?

Boomers continue to demonstrate a significant proclivity towards cruising as opposed to other forms of travel:

• Cruises: 60%
• Tours, community group holidays and ever-popular rail journeys: 40%

Our new-to-cruise stats skew higher than industry, although we have some work to do as we near the release of new tools for reservations to book more cruise options from late 2024.

Increase in community group holidays

We continue to see an increase in our community seeking out like-minded people to travel with. Our audience loves being in this community. You only have to look at the levels of engagement in our Travel at 60 – a group for over-60 travellers Facebook page.

This Facebook group has seen a growth from approximately 8,000 followers at the beginning of the reporting period to over 80,000 at the end of the reporting period. At time of publishing this article in October 2024, the group is now home to over 140,000 followers, all engaging in conversations about travel and looking for someone to share their stories and, sometimes, their holidays with.

So what about solo travellers?

27% of our audience are travelling solo, up from 24% in 2019.

Prior to the pandemic, we were matching clients in shared rooms. We see a lot less demand for this, although there remains an interest in longer, more expensive cruises.

Additionally, the Boomer demographic is not the only demographic pushing a rise in demand for solo trips, indicating that the opportunity to market solo deals is stronger than ever.

Are they travelling in luxury?

The core request for hotel star ratings is 4 stars.

Prior to COVID-19, we did see more 5-star travellers, but now we are seeing a trend towards longer trips in 3-4 star hotels.

How close to the travel date are Boomers booking?

The last reporting period showed us an average lead time of 7 months. This has hovered around 7-9 months, depending on how you cut the data.

Shorter notice bookings are staying close to home, with domestic holidays booked closer to travel date than international holidays. The data around this has not changed too much since the previous 12 months with ‘known’ destinations such as the UK/USA evidencing a much shorter lead time than more exotic destinations like South America, India and longer trips through Europe that might require more planning.

Visiting Families or Relatives (VFR) also comes into play, with many of our audience members still having family in the UK. Airlines not releasing airfares until 12 months prior also has an impact on these stats too. Our audience would love to book their international airfares a lot sooner than just 12 months prior to the travel date!

Our audience well and truly takes part in the eternal debate of whether to take up the ‘early bird’ specials and book early to secure the exact cabin/hotel location/tour departure or wait and hope the exact cruise departure they want is included in a ‘last minute sale’.

High demand product, such balcony and suites on Round The World and Round Australia cruises, also get booked quickly after a new program release. Because our clients’ take-up rate for balcony and suites is high, many clients understand these book out first on the longer cruises.

The other end of the scale is the last-minute bargain hunters. Our retirees are not reliant on small windows of travel opportunity. Families might need to plan around school holidays, but the retired can travel on a whim. When a great short-notice deal is at hand, our audience are more likely than a family to be able to pack up and go. We love it when our suppliers keep us in mind for distressed inventory.

If you are a supplier, here are the key takeaways:

• Hit up Travel at 60 with your last minute deals
• Hit up Travel at 60 with your solo offers
• Distressed inventory? Get in touch with our product team via [email protected]. Depending on the product and how good the deal is, we might be able to assist!
• Make sure the Travel at 60 product team know about upcoming new product releases via the email address above.

Travel at 60 offers a range of holidays including cruises, tours and packaged holidays. To learn more about our products on offer, subscribe to our emails for hot deals, cruise offers and fabulous travel stories written in conjunction with our sister platform Starts at 60.

Disclaimer: Information in this article is based on the booking data currently available to us. Data is based on booking dates for the 12-month period 1 July 23 – 30 June 2024.