There have been studies which show how half of all baby boomers or people aged 45 to 59 dream of world travel. The people who account for 32 percent of all hotel accommodations purchased in the United States are those over 55. When it comes to these people who spend huge sums on restaurants, lodging, tours, and sightseeing, most of them are leisure travelers.
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict the impact of aging but active baby boomers on the travel industry. Here, considering trends toward early retirement and a healthy economy, forecasted by the demographics is an unparalleled boom for the travel industry. In this case, nearly always good news for job seekers and career changers is an industry boom. Be creative in exploring your options if work in the travel industry is something you are thinking about.
Add on to your being a travel agent with positions in Web page management, sales, marketing, and publishing. It is a good idea to consider the niches that serve mature travelers such as the group tour industry. As a group travel manager for a travel agency mentioned, packaged tours for seniors are a growth area with increasing competition from new companies. Included in this case are jobs such as planner, customer service representative, bus driver, tour guide, and marketing specialist. Senior travelers are the target clients when it comes to the trips offered by this travel agency and so mature drivers and escorts are especially appreciated. Considering their drivers, these include retired postal workers and city bus drivers. It is a good bond which exists between the passengers and the drivers because they share the same humor and outlook and they are of the same age. If travel agents undergo training then they can benefit from it even if specific training is not called for by many of the jobs in the travel and hospitality industry.
As mentioned by the vice president of marketing for a retail travel agents association, what is advisable is starting as an outside travel agent before making the leap to running your own agency. In this case, if you book travel arrangements for family and friends then you can earn a commission from an established agency. By considering a special training program, such as the certification as a Specialist in Mature Adult Travel, sponsored by the association of American travel agents, you can capitalize on the trend toward senior travelers.
For one lady, she took early retirement from a US company after 30 years in supervision and customer service when she decided that working for the travel industry was something she liked. First she did some research and then she sent letters and resumes to dozens of tour groups. Here, the response she got was not heartening. After several months she sent another letter, this one to the very top, and then the vice president in charge of tours offered her a job.
That was five years ago when she started as a part time marketing specialist and quickly added the title Tour Escort to her resume. Now, she is in her 50s but she is still accompanying groups of senior travelers to such destinations as Branson, Missouri, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. According to her, she gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing people have a good time.
What is exciting in Branson is seeing the shows and sometimes getting up close to the stars. There are other forms of enjoyment for her including the confidence expressed by groups that request her as the escort on their trips and the friendships she has formed with passengers. Advantages like these help to balance the hard work inherent in days that can start before dawn and end long after the sun has set.