There have been studies which show how half of all baby boomers or people aged 45 to 59 dream of world travel. Here, those who account for 32 percent of all hotel accommodations purchased in the United States are those beyond 55. Here, what you have are the leisure travelers and they are the ones spending huge amounts of money on restaurants, lodging, tours, and sightseeing.
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict the impact of aging but active baby boomers on the travel industry. For the travel industry, an exceptional boom is forecasted by the demographics combined with trends toward early retirement and a healthy economy. It is an industry boom that is nearly always good news for job seekers and career changers. You should explore your options if you are considering work in the travel industry.
Add on to your being a travel agent with positions in Web page management, sales, marketing, and publishing. You can gain by focusing on the niches that serve mature travelers such as the group tour industry. According to a group travel manager for a travel agency, a growth area with increasing competition from new companies are packaged tours for seniors. The kinds of jobs included in this case are bus driver, tour guide, planner, customer service representative, and marketing specialist. The trips run by this travel agency are geared toward senior travelers, so mature drivers and escorts are especially appreciated. When it comes to their drivers, these are retired postal workers and city bus drivers. Existing between the passengers and the drivers is a good bond because they are of the same age and they share the same humor and outlook. No specific training is required for many of the jobs in the travel and hospitality industry, although travel agents may benefit from a training program in the field.
It was the vice president of marketing for a retail travel agents association who said that starting as an outside travel agent before making the leap to running your own agency is recommended. In this case, if you book travel arrangements for family and friends then you can earn a commission from an established agency. In this case, you can capitalize on the trend toward senior travelers 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.
She decided that she was going to try her luck working for the travel industry and what a lady did was take early retirement from a US company after 30 years in supervision and customer service. After conducting research, she sent letters and resumes to dozens of tour groups. It was a response that was not heartening that she got. Another letter was sent by her after several months, this one to the very top, and the vice president in charge of tours gave her a job afterwards.
After this event which happened five years back, she started as a part time marketing specialist and quickly added the title Tour Escort to her resume. Already in her 50s, she still brings groups of senior travelers to such destinations as Branson, Missouri, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In her words, she gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing people have a good time.
The Branson trips provide excitement in seeing the shows and sometimes getting up close to the stars. She gets to enjoy other things too like the confidence expressed by groups that request her as the escort on their trips and the friendships she has formed with passengers. She gets help to balance the hard work inherent in days that can start before dawn and end long after the sun has set because of these advantages.