The Ultimate Seniors Travel Persona

Seniors Travel Persona
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How many times have you
thought to yourself….
“I know my customers / visitors because I am close to my product,
service or destination - I sell it every day”
The truth is, you do not see your
product in the same way as a normal
customer.
Why?
Because you think about, obsess
about and dream about your product all
the time. Your customers don’t.

All successful marketing strategies
begin and end with the CUSTOMER.
Many tourism businesses and destination marketers do not place enough
importance on the one success factor that is critical to survival of any
business
– understanding the customer.
Without travellers, your business just would not survive.
As a busy tourism professional, it is easy to forget.
- Your customer is absolutely central to your marketing NOT your
product or service

You can not be
all things to all CUSTOMERS
• This will dilute the value of your marketing.
Œ Customer
Œ Search engines
• The aim is to create a profile or two or three (your
persona)…that represents your customers, their feelings,
pain points, thoughts and views.
• When you create your personas, get to know them and their
characteristics, it can help you make the best possible
marketing decisions
• Ask yourself, how can my product or service solve their
problems?
• Each time you make a marketing decision, you need to ask
yourself: ‘Would my customer persona like this?’
• You need to run all of your business and marketing
decisions by them first.

Your personas may be
simple or complex characters.
 They can be defined by any or a combination of the following descriptive
characteristics for example (not limited to):
Demographics: income, age, level of education
→ Attitudes to life, attitudes to holidays, needs from a specific holiday (e.g. a romantic break
vs. a family holiday)
→ Social media habits
→ Special interests
→ Internet habits and interests
→ Media consumption habits: What do they watch, read or listen to?
→ Product purchasing habits: How frequently do they buy your product or service
→ When do they buy it?
→ Category involvement: How important are purchases in your category to the buyer?
→ Product preferences: What characteristics are the most motivating for customers?
→ How do they source information about your product or service?
→ What sort of content do they like best to consume?

Your personas may be
simple or complex characters.
 The key is to paint a picture of the person or people that represent
your customers. And then, you can make decisions based on
whether or not they would like it or if it would be good for them.
 Think about the personas that have the most potential to be
profitable for your business
 Knowing your customer persona will impact on every part of your
business:
→ Content creation
→ Branding
→ Any type of marketing and advertising
→ You will no longer be spending your marketing dollars ‘blind’

Whatdoesacustomerpersonalooklike?
Example: Bob and Karen
“We have travelled and gone on holidays all our life, but
someone has always looked
After Lucky for us. We intend to be gone for around 12
months this time and would like to take Lucky with us.
She is such a big part of our lives.”
Goals and values
• They are planning their dream trip around Australia with
their dog Lucky.
• Worked all their lives.
• This is their reward
• Pursue hobbies and interests such as painting, fishing and
looking forward to immersing themselves into the
regional Australia.
• They are passionate about learning.
Sources of information
• Karen does most of the travel planning
for the family
• She wants to plan a lot taking lucky
• They are looking at caravan/trailer
parks, guest houses or motel/hotels that
are pet friendly
• She is looking on Facebook, asking
friends
• ‘Googling’ and surfing the internet
Travel forums
Objections
Some places are too expensive and
charge a premium for pets.
What if we can’t find anywhere to stay?
What if something happens and we
can’t find a vet?
Challenges and pain points
• They are worried about how best to travel with
Lucky – they couldn’t bare the thought of leaving her
at home
• Worried about how best to travel with her and if
there are places to cater to pets
• Worried about the limitations taking a pet might give
• What if Lucky gets sick along the way?
Recently retired | Planning their trip | Want to travel with pet | From Sydney, Australia

BlankPersona–fillinyourself
Name / Names
Goals and values
• .
Sources of information Objections
Challenges and pain points
Brief Description

Context for our personas – there are lots of different lens
through which we can think about customers
You’re a mammal
Who’s descended
from a reptile
And your parents!
Who was born at
a point in history
Into a culture and
a place
Your life so far
Your travel
experiences
Your role at work
Your lifestyle
Your day
Your journey
need or occasion
All of these elements shape
our preferences, attitudes
and beliefs
- At different times any or
all of them may influence
our decision-making
Although we like to think our
decision-making is rational a great
deal of our decisions are made here
in the reflexive and emotional parts
of our brain
The CONTEXT OF
YOUR DECISIONS:
The place, time of
day and channels
you are using

Personas Mark I – the low hanging fruit
• As shown on the previous page, there are at least 16 layers or elements to what makes a
consumer choose the travel experiences they do.
• However over many years of working at the front line of industry, we know that many in the
tourism industry struggle to come to terms with this complexity.
• So in putting together the first edition of the MyTravelResearch.com Marketing Plan
Blueprint™ we decided that we would focus on the ones that the majority of you currently
use – lifestage, common occasions (like family travel) and journey purpose. Our thinking was
that if you can do these well your marketing will make quick and easy gains. Then you will be
ready for more sophisticated personas – the ones that REALLY build a long term and deep
emotional connection.
• We also feel that these work well for both domestic and international marketing – meaning
you can apply them quickly.
• Ready for more already? You don’t need to wait long, our needs- and occasion-based
personas supplement will be due out in the next few weeks.

Customer segments and personas
Seniors

What are seniors about?
Use a mix of digital,
search, offline, word
of mouth
Have all the time in
the world to research
travel
Intelligent internet
searchers
Looking for
meaningful travel
experiences
Excited about the
future and revising
favourite places
Brand aware but
don’t see many
brands talking
directly
Cashed up and time
rich generation, we
will never see
another like it
Affluent
Use ageless
marketing principles
if targeting
Enjoy adventurous
and immersive
experiences
Able to be flexible
due to availability
Travel with mobile
devices

Seniors – The biggest opportunity
(But don’t call me senior)
At MyTravelResearch.com we have conducted an enormous body of research around the travelling senior/ baby-boomer demographic. So
we start by giving a comprehensive view of the opportunities around this exciting market . Our findings here covers all corners of the
globe in both primary and secondary desk research when it comes to seniors. Note that our seniors persona profile is more in depth
than others, because, we believe it is time to seize the opportunity and change marketing practices when it comes to seniors!
Broad Description
• Those 65 years and older are living longer, more active and becoming digital champions. Not only that, they are cashed-up for travel.
This age group have 47x the net worth of households headed by those 35 and older (according to AdAge)
• Globally, the seniors market spend $4 trillion per year, we will never see another demographic in our life time as cashed up and time
rich as our current senior generation.
• Yet, the Boston Consulting tells us that less than 15% of marketing departments have strategies to target the senior demographic.
Why? Well marketing departments worldwide are dominated by young people. Seniors are just not sexy.
• Seniors do not tend to relate to advertising that is overtly targeted at seniors. They simply don’t think or feel they are senior. That is
because they feel and think young – ready to take on the world and continue the travel adventures they begun before they had
children.
• Seniors travel both domestically and Internationally. AARP research shows us that practically all Baby Boomers (99%) anticipate
travelling for leisure in 2016, with approximately 4 or 5 trips in the works. Many are planning both domestic and international trips
(45%), with 5% planning international travel exclusively.
• They are online in droves, researching travel and are now the fastest growing users of social media.
• According to AdAge, in the USA, “every day for the next two decades, 10,000 boomers will join in the marketing wasteland of
‘seniors.’”
• Currently, much of the seniors travel marketing and advertising is very rational and unemotional, focusing primarily on price,
destination and inclusions – seniors tend not to find this appealing.
• The ‘new’ senior makes much more informed purchase decisions and has full access to the Internet, leading active and fulfilling lives
• Seniors are alive and well in the era of prosumers where there is no difference between age demographics and internet usage, the last
census data shows us that more than 80% of Australians haves access to the Internet
• Seniors , more so than other demographics are time rich. They have all the time in the world to search for travel information and much
of the current domestic and international travel markets does not reach out to potential customers or have a presence when they are
searching.
•
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21696539-older-consumers-will-reshape-business-landscape-grey-market, http://www.aarp.org/research/topics/life/info-2015/2016-travel-trends.html,
MyTravelResearch.com seniors travel research , http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2013/05/20/the-overlooked-social-media-marketing-for-senior-citizens/#4ba381d1183e,
http://www.mytravelresearch.com/cashed-up-time-rich-the-travelling-senior/, ABS data,

Attitudes
• Most seniors are excited about the future and travelling
• The desire to travel comes down to three primary motivators:
– To spend time with family and friends
– To relax and rejuvenate
– To get away from normal everyday life
• Senior travellers are not overly concerned with price, more value for money
• They are open to change and new experiences as their life stage changes.
• They are youthful – often physically and mentally and excited about the future. They don’t feel or think they are old, don’t
treat them as such
• For many, travel was not only centred around dream destinations, but also learning, discovering and trying new things
• This included being immersed in culture and localised activity, both from a domestic and international perspective
• They are “Less interested in acquiring material assets ,more interested in acquiring life-changing experiences” Mary J Furlong
Planning
• Heavy users of digital sources
• Increasingly digital savvy they recognise the importance in technology in helping plan travels both prior and during a trip.
• Seniors are searching on the Internet like everyone else – don’t treat differently in this aspect.
• Not necessarily using the term ‘seniors’ in internet search as they don’t believe they are senior.
• They research and plan via digital outlets alongside sources such as word of mouth, newspapers and often the travel agent.
• The secret is to learn to talk to a mindset and attitude rather than an age group.
• Baby Boomers find lots of reasons to travel, with the most popular trip types being Bucket List, Multi-Generational, or
Summer Vacations.
• Of the 95% in the US who will travel domestically in 2016, holidays/vacations , Multi-Generational trips, and Weekend
Getaways are the primary impetus behind such plans.
• Offering free Wi-Fi and a complimentary breakfast can be a competitive advantage for hotels, as these are Boomers’ top two
“must haves.”
http://www.aarp.org/research/topics/life/info-2015/2016-travel-trends.html, http://adage.com/article/rance-crain/life-lead-buying-age/298821/, MyTravelReserch.com seniors travel research.,
Mary J Furlong – Turning Silver into Gold

Not all seniors are equal
• Not all seniors are equal. The market is not homogenous. There are opportunities for segmentation and product
differentiation.
• An important consideration is that as seniors age, they don’t want to stop travelling, but they understand the way they travel
needs to change. For example, they may not be able to self drive long road trips any longer, however, they could possibly
consider coach touring.
• They were often looking to have their boundaries pushed (but wanted to feel safe and comfortable at the same time).
• Most viewed themselves as independent and active and as such, willing to keep travelling and planning to well into the
future.
• They had realistic expectations about age and ability, but more often than not, the respondents felt that their attitudes were
much younger than their physical age. This was reflected in their sense of travelling adventure.
What influences purchase decisions?
• The types of things that are likely to influence purchase include:
– Experiences offered
– Inclusions
– Quality of accommodation
– Comfort
– Learning opportunities
– Inclusion of local guides and insight on the ground locally
– Entertainment
– Attractions
– The promise of memorable experiences and new friendships
• Price must stay within range of competition BUT value is more persuasive. Value is quality for money well spent.

How do seniors use search engines?
• Like everyone else. It is not necessary to use the term senior on your site, unless you are referring to a discount in your
pricing, they will then happily become senior.
• If you are paying for the term “Seniors Travel” through Adwords or any sort of pay per click campaign, think again. Those
who do actually include the search term ‘senior’ tend to buy cheap and will have a very –low conversion.
Pricing.
• Too much use of the word senior becomes alienating and off putting to the broader market. Use discreetly when referring
to pricing only.
• Contrary to popular myth, the senior traveller is not obsessed with finding the cheapest of everything. They are very clear
about this.
• This market is well researched – after they have plenty of time on their hands and often they find as much pleasure in
research as they do in the holiday itself.
• Value for money could be perceived as anything from travelling in off-peak periods with added benefit of less children
around to perhaps value-add deals, bonus night offers, food and beverage deals, late check-out or deals with other local
operators.

Marketing to seniors
Ageless Marketing
Partake in the practice of ageless marketing when targeting seniors
• Do not age your marketing – that is, do not use specific senior talent in your imagery.
• Best practice and potentially the most efficient, is to advocate ‘experiential segmentation’. That is, market your
destinations, products and services according to the experiences they can lead to, rather than by their features,
performance attributes and functional benefits.
• For example, a destination can be positioned in terms of a beach destination – or it can be positioned as a place to
reconnect, get to know each other again and a place for bonding and relaxing together and focus on health and wellbeing
• People including seniors are more likely to buy experiences more than a destination a product or a service
• Seniors don’t think they are senior and therefore do not relate to images of seniors or text that talks to seniors. Aged-based
marketing is increasingly counterproductive as age does not define values, attitudes or behaviours. Also, ageless marketing
reaches and talks to a broader audiences because it is not exclusionary.
– Ageless marketing uses universal core values like:
– Love
– Friendship
– Loyalty
– Altruism
– Dreams personal growth
• Ensure your images and photos reflect self assessment and appeal to attitude not age. Use a mix of ageless marketing with
perceived age of seniors, that is 10-15 years younger! Old age should not be implied, stated or said. Include single females.
• And when it comes to social media, seniors are more likely to use and take up Facebook than any other platform

Ageless Marketing
• Travel message guidelines that hit the buttons and
capture motivation – speak to experiences and
emotions rather than rational:
– Relationship facilitation and reconnection “get to
know your husband again”
– Enrichment and improving oneself “you now have
the time to learn”
– Health and wellness travel “this is your time”
– Having fun. Being adventurous “You have done
the hard yards, kids are gone you owe it to
yourself”
– Grandparents are heroes and youthful
– Experiences (experiential travel):
• National parks
• Get involved
• Get to know the culture
• Learn
– Be positive
– Emphasise benefits not features
– Learning
– Immersing yourself into local culture (for
domestic)
– Relax
– Let us do the driving for you
• Target attitudes NOT age groups
– They are looking for more, better and different,
unique
– Have wide food interest and wine/drinking
– Concerned with their image
– Want and can pay for premium products
– Like to socialise outside of home
– Love new technology – apps, Ipads, home
entertainment
– Adventurous travellers
– Aware of limitations but don’t want to stop
travelling:
• “I am all for hazard reduction at this stage
of my life”

Ageless Marketing – examples of words / language
to use in marketing communications
• You can do it
• You decide
• You are in control
• Your friends and neighbours agree
• See for yourself
• Enjoy!
• The choice is yours
• Relationships
• Love
• Quality
• Giving back
• Tell me how I will feel when I travel
• Freedom
• Adventurous
• Wiser
• relaxed
• Discover how easy it is
• Make new friends
• Meet others
• Life long learning
• Think
• What matters most
• “To do what you want…when you want”
• Independent
• Leisure
• Romance
Educate through content rather than the ‘hard sales pitch’
• Don’t use terms like seniors, geriatric, the aged, oldies, grannies (even in jest or ‘tongue in cheek’)
• Don’t be confrontational
• Don’t lecture or patronise
• Don’t be pushy

Ageless Marketing – types of images to use
• Creative do’s
– Use age appropriate models 10-15years younger than target where you can
– If using age talent models, should be attractive, youthful, sexy, active
– Old age should not be implied, state or said
– Use visual icons
– Clear, clean and simple
– INCLUDE single females
• Don’t use stereotype images
• Retirement should be implied not stated
• Subtle changes can make a huge difference
• Ageless marketing mixed with perceived age and attractive age appropriate talent

You may think I look
like this, but I think
and feel I look like
this
Using my language and
the benefits
https://www.gadventures.com.au/travel-styles/national-geographic-journeys/

Don’t use contrived, implied and stereotyped
(cringe worthy) imagery

Use These
This is how I feel and this is what I relate to

Meet Bob and Shirley
• They are open to change and new experiences
• They are youthful often physically and mentally - the
grandkids help with this – they look after the grandkids a
few days a week while their parents work
• Travel is not just centred around dream destinations, but
also learning, discovering and trying new things
• This included being immersed in culture and localised
activity, both from a domestic and international
perspective
• They are hoping to revisit some of the places they went
to before they had kids
Planning
• Bob and Shirl are Increasingly digital savvy - they
recognise the importance in technology in helping plan
travels both prior and during a trip.
• They search on Google and supplement that with
knowledge learned from friends and family, weekend
travel supplements, travel agents and the odd Travel
show on television
• Sometimes Shirl asks friends on Facebook about where
they have been. She also likes to look at her friends and
family’s holiday snaps they share on Facebook
• They are pretty flexible with most things and open to all
sorts of value, but they specifically look for product that
incorporates free Wi-Fi and a complimentary breakfast
• Sometimes for international trips, they will book with a
travel agent, but still do a lot of research on the internet
• However, they feel comfortable enough to plan and book
their own domestic trips themselves.
• They hope to combine travel with catching up with
family and friends at home and around the world.
• They research most of their travel plans on the internet,
looking for good value deals out of peak periods.
• They also prepared to be spontaneous for those too
good to be true last minute deals.
• They are not overly concerned with price, more value for
money and scan the weekend papers and travel
supplements for ‘deals’
• They subscribe to lots of newsletters too.
• They are happy to travel in low/shoulder season when
most of these happen
Bob and Shirl are newly retired and extremely excited about the
future . They recently took a sea change to a coastal town. The
future includes travel with several domestic and international trips to
strike off the bucket list

Senior sub niches
Singles
Market to Single Seniors.
• We have seen a rapid growth in senior singles wanting to travel. The majority are women. They may be newly divorced or
newly widowed. Or we have often come across a married single senior whose husband or partner has no interest in travel.
• Often they have been inspired to travel solo by others. They may have always wanted to travel, but never had anyone to
travel with. This now is less of a concern.
• Contrary to popular belief, it is not the single supplement that is the most important factor. Many of them are willing to
make that trade-off being fully aware that there are now plenty of operators and companies catering to this market – cruise
lines, tours, hostels etc.
• It is important to appeal to a sense of security. Common single seniors pain points include:
– “I have no one to sit at the dinner table with”
– “It will be full of happily married couples and I will be the only single one there”
– “I am self conscious – for this generation, it is hard to be single and proud”
– “Will I be safe travelling on my own?”
• Be subtle but show them you understand:
– Include text and imagery in your single specials and deals addressing some of these concerns
– Small group tours are more appealing
– Cruise companies singles programs “meet and mingle”
– Information on your website specifically addressing some of these concerns
– Possibility of forming new friendships with people like them
“join us on this tour with other travellers with similar interests”
“You will be travelling with a mix of age-groups, single and coupled travellers”
Can you help solve the single seniors pain points? Talk about these on your websites and
promotions. Be subtle but show them you understand. They will reward you through loyalty and
word of mouth.

Senior
Singles
Fun
Confident

Meet Karen
• Karen is in her early sixties and ready to travel
• She is recently divorced. When married, they didn’t do a
lot of travel, her husband wasn’t that interested. But, it is
something she had always dreamed of doing.
• Karen has decided to turn over a new leaf and travel.
Many of her friends are not in a position to go with her so
she has decided to embark on her adventures ‘solo’.
• She is interested in learning about new cultures, meeting
people in their local environment
• While not attracted to huge coach tours, she does like the
look of those small adventure tours, in particular Gap
Adventures and Intrepid are appealing.
• Both companies allow for share room options for singles
and also single rooms.
• Although she thought she would initially save by sharing a
room, the more she thought about it, the less appealing
it was.
• She is a bit worried about eating alone, or being the only
single on the tour, but gets the sense from these
companies that she won’t the only one travelling alone.
She sees this on their website.
• Karen also has many domestic travel plans. Good friends
of Karen, Bob and Shirl have moved up to the coast and
she also intends to visit them – outside of the school
holidays
• Shirl said they could also go away for a girlie trip later in
the year. They are looking at a cruise.

Disclaimer: Please note that the information and data contained in this update has been
prepared for the specific purpose of addressing the items for the research between
MyTravelResearch.com Pty Ltd and our premium community members
It may not be suitable for other applications. The use of this data for any other purpose
should be discussed with the lead author. MyTravelResearch.com accepts no responsibility
for unauthorised use of this data by a third party.
© MyTravelResearch.com® 2018

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