Boomer Women and Women in general are relatively ignored by the travel industry. Travel websites have now begun to categorize vacations by experience such as spa or cruise, reacting to the new kind of online consumer.  Marketers have started to engage consumers in purchasing experiences instead of simply hotel rooms or other travel products. 

Marketers have also started embracing the social media environment – understanding that their audiences have changed the way they research travel.  These channels have helped to identify for the marketer the type of vacation a traveler is researching or planning, but they have not dug down further to market to specific demographics within the experiences.

Where the travel industry has left money on the table is in neglecting, or misunderstanding the complexity and power of the Boomer Women market segment specifically as a target demographic.

I researched over a dozen top hotel brand sites (including Marriott, Hilton, Fairmont and Starwood) and nowhere on the home page, or even within their packages pages, was anything easily identifiable that spoke directly to women - of any age.  Kimpton Hotels was the only good example I could find of a hotel company clearly identifying right on their navigation bar that women in general are a unique segment.

Quoted from their website they state, “At Kimpton, we feel it's important, now more than ever, to define what it means to be a woman traveler. Thus, our “Women In Touch” program was born.” Kimpton’s “Wine, Women and Fun” features an innovative experience developed by Boomer Woman Leslie Sbrocco, based on her book “Wine for Women”, the first wine book written exclusively for women.

This is a great example of incorporating the four critical elements of website strategy to capture your share of this growing market.  Amber Hayes, CEO of Adventure Engine states, “When marketing online to this demographic you need to Engage, Relate, Inform and Convert.”

Boomer Woman are looking for vacation ideas that speak directly to them. Hoteliers are missing the mark on “Milestone Marketing” creating experiences and packages that celebrate significant turning points in boomer women’s lives. Imagine an “I am turning 50, girlfriends getaway” – one that that helps you plan this important right of passage for yourself or your girlfriends?

This could include makeovers for the group, a “live your fantasy weekend” along with unexpected surprises such as a pre arranged “nail taxi” to take you to VIP section at a live theatrical show!

It is time for Marketer’s to engage unique audiences such as Boomer Women for instance,  and to speak directly to them in order to carve out a piece of the increasingly saturated and cluttered online travel space.

Want to connect with Bommer Women as Marketers? 

Create an area for Boomer Woman on your site, and engage your consumer with interesting packages or experiences. Then provide the information they need to easily make their buying decision simple. Boomer Women are obsessed by the details. They have to see, feel and understand what the whole vacation experience is about.  This is extremely important as they feel it is their primary responsibility to make each trip count, and become a memorable experience for their girlfriends, nieces, grandchildren or spouse that they are traveling with.

Conversions will easily follow if you market directly to Boomer Woman, and show you understand what they are all about. Boomer woman are computer savvy, complex and not only do they own 75% of the nation’s wealth - they purchase 80% of luxury travel! 

Don’t you think it is about time the Travel industry put some thought into marketing to them?  Isn’t it about time to determine the “purse-onality” of such an engaged group of consumers?

Sources:
• “Primetime Women” by Marti Barletta
• National Association Of Boomer Women  
• Boomer Women Speak.com   
• Fifty is the New Forty
• Center for Woman's Business Research
• “Eight Things you don't know about Boomer Women ( But Should)” by Mary Brown


About the author

Patricia Brusha
E-Analyst & Co-Founder

Patricia Brusha is the co-founder of www.acoupleofchicks.com  - an Internet Marketing Company focused on travel and tourism, and Online Revealed Canada – the Canadian Tourism e-Marketing Conference produced in association with Yahoo! Canada. She has spent 26 years working in the Hospitality Industry in the United States and Canada in the fields of Sales, Hotel Marketing, Internet Distribution and Revenue Management.  Together, the “Chicks” have published over 25 articles, produced a successful online marketing Blog; www.ideahatching.com , launched www.chicksaway.com – a new social media portal for women who travel, and have worked with such notable brands as Marriott International, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Yahoo!