Adventure, Entertainment & Fantasy Take Over
By Phil Goodman

The Hospitality industry in 2007 and beyond will continue to be affected by corporate expense sensitivity, cutbacks and restructuring. Travel specialists say now that travel bookings are almost recovered to the levels before Sept 11, 2001. We believe that this is fueled by both boomer leisure travelers & families, and international travelers to and from the US.

Corporate meetings with golf, spa and family amenities continue to gain popularity for Boomer and younger travelers. The 4 and 5 star hotel/resorts now have to come up with new innovative marketing plans to capture more leisure travelers, to accommodate families traveling for a combination of business and leisure. The airlines are faced with similar challenges. Leisure customers and Boomers traveling for business are more demanding, price conscious and desirous of a variety of both relaxing and adventurous activities and air/hotel packages.

2007-2008 Predictions
The expectation for 2007-2008 is optimistic as Boomers and their families continue to consult the Internet to save money on hotels and airlines and are highly motivated to do domestic, or at least western hemisphere travel. For creative organizations in the travel industry there are some great opportunities for increasing business that fit right in with the current lifestyles and attitudes of Babyboomers and their Generation X families. Short vacations and packages are particularly attractive.

Trend One:
Adventurous, Exciting, yet "safe"and family oriented

For both business and leisure travel, Boomers, many of them becoming grandparents, and Generation X are increasingly looking for something more exciting and adventurous in which the whole family can participate.
Companies looking for ways to get the juices flowing of the "been there, done that" Boomer business traveler and conventioneer have discovered that activity and adventure events may be cheaper then the traditional corporate hospitality alcohol and sporting event combinations.
If you consider that the great outdoors is a wonderful playground, then hotels and resorts that include packages for rafting, rock climbing, nature photography hunts, outdoor mystery and treasure hunts, backpacking, in addition to the usual swimming, horseback riding, tennis and golf, might find increased interest among business travelers who want their families with them, rather then leaving them at home.

Trend Two: Fantasy Entertainment
Entertainment as an escape from a stressful life has taken on new meaning and tremendous attendance and attention, as is proven by the huge success of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies. Boomers are not strangers to fantasy. After all who are the two biggest producers of fantasy movies? George Lukas and Steven Spielberg are both babyboomers.

The American travel and tourism industry can take a lesson from other countries who are already looking to Hollywood to see what the latest filming locations will be. For example, the British Tourism Authority has printed 500,000 maps to guide fans to the castles and cathedrals that were stand-ins for haunts in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Movie-themed tours are getting more attention and provide enhanced tourist attraction and revenue for New Zealand (Lord of the Rings) and Newfoundland.

The key point is that films enhance the fantasy and fantasy gives Boomers and their kids and grand kids safe, enjoyable and entertaining experiences that they can do together.

Trend Three: Renewed Interest in History and Nostalgia
Destinations and locations that have historical significance that are within a 200 mile radius to home are more attractive now then they have been for a decade.
Historical places and events give us a sense of continuity and permanence that Boomer families find reassuring and comforting.
The opportunity for historical attractions and the hotels near them is to attract the populations nearby with staged events, drama plays and enactments which not only entertain but involve the tourists directly in the activities and dramas. Kids love to be participants in history much more then being dragged around to see "old stuff".

About the author: Rosemary Moskowitz is a boomer, a marketing consultant, a mother of twin girls age 21. "We are a typical Boomer family: our kids had frequent flyer miles before they were 6 traveling with us on business trips. By the time they were 12, they had traveled outside of the US, had been to most of the major cities; had traveled by airplane alone; had been whale-watching, hot-air balloon riding, summer camp!" As college students, they live away from home, have cell phones, email, laptops, go on cruises, plan overseas trips by themselves. Her e-mail is: rmoskowitz@usa.net. Comments, questions and ideas about this special report are encouraged and will be included in future reports and newsletters planned.