It is More Profitable for the Tourist Industry to Target Older Travelers

The microbrewery in the center of Takayama city felt a bit out of the place.  Despite being surrounded by wooden buildings from more than century ago, the clientele of the little bar and restaurant is distinctly un-Japanese.  When I visited the location for dinner at 8pm on a Saturday, none of the people inside were Japanese.  Perhaps attracted by the reputation of their brews, white couples in the fifties and sixties occupied most of the tables and the counter, trying more than half a dozen unique beers the microbrewery had on tap.

And despite the alcohol and exclusive foreign crowd, the place did not have the stereotypical rowdy feel of places that drunk foreigners frequent while abroad.  Soft classical and jazz music were playing in the background, and the elderly couples were quietly talking, quiet enough to make out different, individual conversations.  With beer going for about 12 USD per pint and the couples ordering one after the other, these customers perhaps represent exactly the "high quality" tourists that Japan want: quiet, not disturbing, polite, and willing to spend as much as possible on local businesses.

Indeed, it would make sense for the tourism industry to cater more to people in the fifties and sixties.  These are the people, who, after a lifetime of working, saved up enough to travel around the world.  And despite retiring, they are still young ad adventurous enough to go places, eat good food, and splurge on proper night-time entertainment.  Yet, without the youthful rashness of the backpacker crowd, the older travelers will not incur the social costs of loud noises and general disturbances that locals in touristic towns resent.

It is as if Takayama has found the perfect crowd to cater to in shaping its tourist industry.  Yet, the strategy is not without its set of problems.  Older people, being less nimble and tolerant of uncertainties than youths, will need clean, stable, and all around structured locations to attract.  They do not do well when the streets are clogged, the transport is full of hassle and unexpected changes, and hotels are mediocre in their facilities.  Not many towns and local businesses can afford to invest the time, energy, and money to create the perfect location to attract older travelers.

Hardware is not the only issue.  Older travelers are slower to learn local languages and customs.  Their personal habits and routines, built over decades, are much harder to temporarily let go when traveling.  The people that man the local tourist spots must be flexible enough to cater to the nature of the older travelers to seek homely comfort in foreign locations.  That means not only speaking their local languages (or at least proficient English) but also be willing to provide amenities that they are used to from back home, whether it be food, service, or social norms.

Of course, being old does not mean inability to accept foreign lands for what they are.  After all, if the older travelers are unwilling to experience the unknown, they probably would not have made the journey in the first place.  But when presenting the unknown to the older travelers, the approach must be much more subtle and accommodating.  The comfort zone of the elderly is much smaller than young ones just getting to know society after leaving home, so it is more important to know when to make compromises and meet in the middle.

But of course, the rewards, as implied in the beginning, are well worth the effort.  Youths are fundamentally thrifty and easily bored.  They may go to many different places, but they will spend as little as possible, and will likely leave just as quickly as they came.  Older travelers will stay for much longer, content with staying for days at a time, if only to sit around nice microbreweries and have expensive beers pint after pint.  Businesses and towns that can successfully draw old travelers will see much bigger revenues while preserving amicable environments.

To help draw in more older travelers, then, it makes sense for both local and national governments to create comprehensive projects.  On one hand, there should be more targeted research on what older travelers want to spend money on and what they are uncomfortable with.  On the other hand, there should be more targeted training of tourist industry personnel and targeting marketing to make them more older-traveler-friendly.  With combined private-public effort, the world can be more friendly for older travelers with plenty of money and time.