Over-50s online travel boom revealed

Well over three quarters of internet users aged over 50 have visited a travel site in the last year, new research reveals.

The Nielsen//NetRatings findings show that 1.5 million in this age bracket visited the secure pages of travel websites to book in September alone.

The internet research firm found that :

• 86% of all British surfers aged over 50 have visited a travel site in the last year 1.5 million of them visited the secure pages of travel websites to book in September 2005
• The most popular travel site with the over 50’s is Expedia – ahead of second-placed Lastminute.com by almost 900,000 visitors during summer 2005
• Over half (54%) of online Briton’s visit a travel site; that’s over 14 million people every month – a growth of 20% in the last year alone
• Surfers spend on average 40 minutes a month viewing more than 70 pages of content on a variety of travel sites, from airlines to cruise lines, hotels to travel agents
• Overall, pure online travel sites are more popular with the over-50’s than the traditional high street brands – Expedia, Lastminute.com, Ebookers, Opodo, and Travelocity collectively more popular than Thomson owner TUI, Thomas Cook, MyTravel and First Choice
• The over-50’s are “looking and booking” online more than their younger counterparts – accessing the secured section of travel websites to make bookings much more regularly

The research firm described the lucrative over-50’s age group as a “wide and varied audience hungry for travel experiences and adept at using the internet to get the best deals – a point that all sectors of the web should sit up and take notice of.”

Nielsen//NetRatings European internet analyst Alex Burmaster said: “The figures for the online travel sector continue to impress but what screams out is the staggering percentage of over 50’s who go online for travel.

“This not only has far-reaching implications for the internet as a whole but confirms beyond doubt that the web is not just a young person’s tool.”

While the Big Four high street brands – TUI, Thomas Cook, MyTravel and First Choice – may have a lower audience in this age group compared to the purely online brands, the traditional high street travel agent sites have seen a significant increase of 7% in audience in the 12 months since October 2004, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. 

Cruise lines are particularly popular with this age group; being twice as likely to be visited by those aged 50+ (nearly half of visitors to cruise lines sites are over 50). Sites in the cruise line category, overall, have more than doubled the number of visitors going to secured parts of the site over the last year, the company said.

Burmaster added: “The way that the 50+ age group has embraced the online travel sector contains valuable lessons for all sectors looking to increase their online customers – for example looking closely at what cruise line companies are doing that has resulted in the huge increases in number of visitors going to secure pages.

“The behaviour of this age group is an extremely vibrant example of how the internet can be used to improve people’s lives and experiences. It’s worth pointing out, it’s not simply a case that they’re sticking with offline brands they’ve trusted over the years – only Thomson makes it into the Top Five travel sites, all the other four are purely online brands.

“If the older generation can utilise the web to such an extent this bodes increasingly well for the web over the next few years.

“It is well known that this age group in particular are a huge audience for holidays and travel and the development of the internet has enriched the lives of those over 50, as well as those taking early retirement and releasing capital from their homes to succumb to the desire to travel the world.

“The internet gives them the opportunity to research destinations, create itineraries, compare prices and book trips in real time. The ability to have more control over the total cost of a package also means that for those with the travel bug it’s now possible to plan several trips a year from the comfort of their PC.”  

  *Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView May 2004-Sept 2005

Report by Phil Davies