More and more Czech seniors travelling abroad
More and more Czech seniors are travelling abroad, according to numbers registered by domestic travel agencies. Last year, one, Invia, registered an increase of 11 percentage points when it came to clients 55 or older and in 2017 seniors represented one-fifth of the package vacation market.
More and more Czech seniors are vacationing abroad the Association of Czech
Eva Kolářová, who retired three years ago, still works part-time as an accountant to save up for travel, her life’s passion. For the last three years she has vacationed with a company specializing in package tours for seniors and from the sound of it, she couldn’t be happier. She told Czech Radio about her experience:
“We vacationed at Mar Menor, Spain, and we loved it because the whole thing was perfectly organized, not least optional day trips which took into account age so they weren’t too taxing. We had a great time, which is why we keep coming back to this particular agency.”
This year, she and her husband will travel to Menorca.
Jan Papež of the Association of Czech Travel Agents confirms that the interest in travelling abroad among seniors is going up and there is no that the trend will continue. Seniors today were economically active throughout their professional lives and now have enough saved up to spend on travel.
“I think that this is going to be a trend that will continue and will continue to grow. We see that people older than 50, 55, 60 are active and even more active than the young generation.”
According to tour agents, older clients are more interested in guided tours, quality guides, or tour delegates and are willing to pay more for better hotels and services. It is not surprising that travel agents have taken note and responded to meet demand.
Fischer Travel, says spokesman Jan Bezděk, saw a 15 percent increase in sales to seniors last year and he adds the agency went to some length to offer some packages tailored to their needs.
“There are destinations which are favoured because they, for example, offer easy access to the sea, the hotels they choose are quieter – without discos on the ground floor – and have other services which are suitable. Many ask about day trips at the time of booking because they don’t want to spend the whole time laying on a beach.”
According to Invia, more than two-thirds of seniors travel off-season, in other words, not during the hottest days of summer.
Czech seniors with more to spend also don’t just travel to the Mediterranean but further abroad as well: destinations such as Zanzibar, Kenya, or Thailand.
