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New year, new decade and plenty of new travel trends. Dana curates the latest batch for trends that speak to the ever-growing target of retired travelers. Want to reach an audience that has the time, money and inclination to travel? These five retiree travel trends are for you!

1. More travel with the grandkids. We first talked about this trend in October with our blog: Skip-Gen Travel: Get Familiar With Gramping. Well, the grandparent-grandchild travel trend shows no signs of slowing down, according to another , citing a 2019 AARP Travel Trend Survey that states 32% of grandparents have taken their grandkids on 鈥渟kip-generation鈥� (skip-gen) trips. You can piggyback this trend by offering skip-gen promotions and packages, as well as including skip-gen content in your marketing efforts. For inspiration, check out , which offers over 150 trips geared to grandparents and family. Or see how the respected tour company Tauck speaks to this target with .
2. On the heels of the slow food movement is slow travel. The saying 鈥渢he journey is as important as the destination鈥� is at the heart of slow travel, which was named among by ABTA, the UK鈥檚 largest travel association. With more available free time, retirees are prime candidates for the slow travel trend, which extends time in destinations to connect with the local people and culture. Slow travel can also reduce a trip鈥檚 footprint and be more supportive of the local community. Fodor鈥檚 names slow travel and calls it a mindset as much as a mode of travel. More time to stop and smell the roses or sit and people-watch at a sidewalk caf茅? We鈥檙e in.
3. Trains before planes? Strolling hand in hand with the slow travel trend is the rise of train travel, where available. Thanks to the efforts of activist Greta Thunberg and others, travelers are thinking of ways to reduce their carbon footprint by avoiding flygskam (flight shame). Eliminating short-haul flights is a good first step, and retirees are fortunate enough to have the time to enjoy a more leisurely pace of travel. elaborate on the slow travel trend by noting that 鈥渙ver half (57%) of travelers already don鈥檛 mind spending more time traveling to reach their destination if they鈥檙e taking a unique mode of transport.鈥� Make that a train journey on the Orient Express or through the Canadian Rockies, please!
4. Solos will have their day鈥�and say. Due to choice or circumstances, more retirees will be traveling solo. posted late last year, the solo travel trend has been growing for the past decade with search for 鈥渟olo female travel鈥� gaining more traction. Key to reaching this segment is proactively addressing the concerns, frustrations and fears that a solo traveler, especially an older female, may have. (For more on this trend, read our blog 4 Ways to Win Over Solo Travelers.)
5. Finding your roots. DNA tests are popular, and now savvy travel companies are taking it a step further with ancestry trips. , while others refer to it as heritage travel. Whatever you call it, retirees will be eager to find their roots on trips to Italy, Ireland and more. However, you don鈥檛 have to go overseas to connect with your past. If your destination is rich with history, combine it with genealogy to create a heritage experience. (For instance, the Holladay House B&B in Orange, Virginia makes the most of its proximity to local historic archives with a .) Of course, heritage trips are popular for multigenerational travel, another retiree travel trend that鈥檚 still going strong.

Don鈥檛 miss out on this lucrative demographic. Contact Lynn Kaniper at 609.466.9187 ext. 117 or lkaniper@danacommunications.com, and let鈥檚 talk.