>> data
Travel orders grew by 58% year-on-year
61 to 65 year olds are a high-growth group
According to Ctrip data, from January to September this year, travel orders for seniors aged 50 and above increased by 26% year-on-year, higher than those of other age groups. Among them, 61 to 65 years old is the group with the highest growth rate, with a year-on-year growth rate of 58%.
The silver-haired population mainly comes from first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as new first-tier cities such as Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Xi'an, Nanjing and Tianjin, accounting for 27% and 26% respectively, accounting for more than half of the total. This means that in second-, third- and even fourth- and fifth-tier cities, there is still great potential for silver-haired people to spend online travel.
Specific to Shaanxi, from January to September this year, among Shaanxi travel users aged 50 and above, 66% were men and 34% were women. 54% are aged 50-54, 39% are aged 55 to 64, 6% are aged 65-74, and 1% are over 75. The oldest traveler was a 94-year-old male.
According to the data, people over 50 years old in Shaanxi Province mainly come from Xi'an, Xianyang, Hanzhong, Baoji and Yulin.
The most popular tourist destinations for people over 50 years old in Shaanxi are Xi'an, Beijing, Hanzhong, Chengdu and Shanghai. Overseas destinations include Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok and Osaka.
According to the data, customized tours are favored by the silver-haired tourism groups in Shaanxi, accounting for 54%. Since the beginning of this year, the average price of orders from Shaanxi's silver-haired tourism groups on Ctrip has been about 756 yuan.
>> limitations
Children over the age of 70 must be accompanied
"My parents are retired at home, and I really want to go out for a visit, so I plan to sign up for a tour group for them to go out, but I didn't expect a lot of restrictions." Ms. Hu, a citizen of Xi'an, said, "Some travel agencies do not accept people over 70 years old, and some say that they must be accompanied by their children, but I am too busy with work to leave." Ms. Hu said that the elderly finally have time, and they can afford their parents' travel expenses, but they did not expect the elderly to travel but were restricted.
On October 16, a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News contacted a number of travel agencies in Xi'an to ask about the precautions for the elderly to travel in groups.
Xi'an China International Travel Service and Xi'an Qinling Travel Service both said that the elderly over 70 years old need to be accompanied by a family member under the age of 65, and it is recommended to have a comprehensive physical examination before traveling, to ensure physical condition, and to prepare the medicines that need or may be used. If you feel unwell during the trip, contact the tour guide in time, and put your health and safety first.
In the column of precautions for a travel route with a destination of Beijing in Xi'an Kanghui Travel Agency, it is clearly written: "The elderly over 70 years old need to provide a health certificate and sign a liability exemption agreement. ”
Xi'an Xinlv International Travel Agency replied: There is no age limit for tourists, but if the original underlying diseases or mobility difficulties need to be accompanied by a family member, "we do not recommend that the elderly choose plateaus or remote areas, whether from the health or environmental considerations, they should choose a more comfortable travel location, and adjust according to their own physical conditions." ”
A travel agency called "Migratory Bird Home" staff said that they have a wide age limit for the elderly, within 80 years old, physical condition to adapt to travel can sign up, at present they specialize in silver-haired tour groups, with the group travel are older elderly, they found that the elderly are very welcome to the pure play group without shopping.
So, is there an upper age limit for group tours? According to the "Elderly Tourism Service Specifications for Travel Agencies" issued by the mainland in 2016, elderly tourists refer to "consumers over the age of 60 (including 60 years old)", which has a clause that "elderly tourists over 75 years old should ask adult immediate family members to sign".
>> features
Elderly people "have money and leisure"
Pay more attention to the quality of tourism
Wang Xinxin, General Manager of the Agile Project Department of Trip.com Group and Project Leader of the Ctrip Alumni Association, said: "Willing to travel by plane and stay in high-star hotels, 'having money and leisure' is a prominent feature of online travel for silver-haired people. At the same time, it is also a comprehensive choice after considering factors such as funds, experience, and physical strength. The silver-haired online tourism crowd, mainly in first- and second-tier cities, is more willing to invest time and energy in visiting scenic spots and experiencing projects. ”
They are more willing to pay for quality tourism, so that the average consumption amount of silver-haired people online travel is about 30% higher than that of the broader market. Ctrip data shows that from January to September this year, silver-haired people accounted for nearly half of the overall charter tour orders.
In addition, cruise products are also popular among the silver-haired crowd due to their comfort. Ctrip data shows that orders for cruise products for silver-haired people increased by 280% year-on-year from January to September this year. Huashang Daily Gale News reporter Mao Mina and intern Zhao Yuhan
Travel agencies: age restrictions, mainly "afraid of trouble"
A number of travel agencies said that the restriction on the age of participation is mainly due to "fear of trouble". The pace of travel is fast, especially for activities such as mountain climbing, which may affect the group itinerary if there are elderly people in the group. In addition, many elderly people have chronic diseases such as hypertension and asthma, which may be affected by climate, terrain and other factors during the journey. Once it is inconvenient to seek medical treatment on the way, it is easy to have disputes, and the travel agency may be at risk.
The Tourism Law, the Regulations on Travel Agencies and other documents stipulate that travel agencies shall purchase travel agency liability insurance, and shall remind tourists participating in group tours to purchase personal accident insurance in accordance with the regulations. Many travel agencies said that they would encourage tourists to buy additional commercial insurance suitable for themselves, but not many elderly tourists are willing to buy it.
The reporter searched for a variety of domestic travel insurance online and found that the daily premium of the trip ranged from a few yuan to several hundred yuan, and the insurance amount also ranged from tens of thousands of yuan to several million yuan. Some insurance products have different regulations on premiums and insurance amounts according to the age of the policyholder, and the elderly have higher premiums and lower insurance amounts, which reduces the enthusiasm of the elderly to apply for insurance to a certain extent.
Lou Jiajun, a professor at East China Normal University who has been engaged in tourism industry research for a long time, said that compared with young and middle-aged tourists, elderly tour group products need to fully consider health care and other issues, which have certain particularities, so the cost and risks faced are different from conventional products.
New attempt: improve the risk sharing system
Some insurance companies have started to make new attempts. For example, the "Insurance Supermarket" designed by Jiangtai Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd. provides a variety of products for the risk of elderly travel, and some products extend the coverage age to 100 years old and the sum insured is not halved. Zhao Jing, general manager of the company's Shenyang branch, said that in terms of risk disposal, the tourism industry needs to strengthen risk prevention, improve the risk sharing system as soon as possible, and actively advocate the awareness of "honest participation" of elderly tourists and their families.
"All sectors of society can work together to mitigate risks." Lou Jiajun suggested that before the trip, travel agencies should ask tourists for personal health information and inform tourists that they are not suitable to participate in tourism activities; The elderly should go to the hospital for a physical examination before traveling, bring symptomatic drugs and necessary emergency medicines, and pay attention to carefully check the content of the insurance and restrictive terms when applying for insurance.
Some overseas experience is also worth learning. For example, some travel companies in Japan have small group tours for the elderly over 65 years old, limited to 15 people, and fully consider the needs of the elderly in the itinerary, such as choosing more comfortable seats and reducing the number of check-in points; The hotel offers special accommodation plans for seniors, such as wheelchairs in bathrooms, crutches, and special changing rooms.
At the same time, it is necessary to actively develop tourism scenes suitable for the characteristics of the elderly. Wang Lei, executive dean of Ningxia University's Frontier Interdisciplinary College, said that taking advantage of the mainland's vast land space and rich tourism resources to develop county-level tourism and leisure tourism in urban recreation belts is not only conducive to the elderly to relax and unwind, but also to avoid their excessive concentration in crowded popular scenic spots.
Recommendation: Gradually replace age restrictions with health conditions
Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said that from the perspective of understanding, it is hoped that the industry can gradually replace the age limit with health conditions.
Dai Bin said: "Out of consideration for the safety risks of tourists, it is also an international practice to make some tips or additional requirements for the elderly with health risks. For example, airlines will require health certificates for people over 70 years old, especially those over 80 years old. But as people's health levels improve, from a travel agent's point of view, we hope to be able to replace age limits with health conditions in the future. ”
Zhong Lina, a special researcher at the Tourism Research and Planning Center of Peking University, believes that how to develop special tourism products for the elderly of different ages is an important issue in front of the industry.
Zhong Lina said: "First of all, I don't think it should be one-size-fits-all. Don't be one-size-fits-all for age, don't be one-size-fits-all for products. The age should be relaxed, and it can be enjoyed at different ages, but the conditions may become more and more harsh. The same is true for the products, such as the energetic elderly, most of the products can be participated, but I think there are some groups that can be oriented to the older elderly, or the elderly who are more incapacitated, such as the elderly research group, which is a special service. I think the current concern is actually about health, but now the interest of the elderly in China is not being answered. ”
In the interview, the reporter noticed that travel agencies in some regions have launched products suitable for the elderly such as health care groups, comfort groups, and boutique groups. Dai Bin believes that in the future, scenic spots, insurance, transportation and other related industries need to work together to better develop the elderly tourism market. According to Xinhua News Agency, CCTV
Wake up
Free senior tours
More than 280 people were defrauded of more than 340 yuan
Recently, a fraud case handled by the Shanghai Pudong New Area Procuratorate occurred in a free tour group specifically targeting the elderly.
In October 2023, the Pudong police found that many elderly people in the jurisdiction had traveled to the same destination and participated in a 3-day or 7-day tourism and health care project, with all-inclusive food and accommodation. According to the instructions, this medicine can be applied externally or internally, ranging from mouth ulcers and burns to high blood pressure, heart disease, and even liver cirrhosis and cancer.
Nearly 300 elderly people were deceived in this case. In November 2023, the criminal gangs led by criminal suspects Wang Moushan and Zhang Mouwen were all arrested.
Nowadays, in order to publish product discount news or contact customers, many owners of vegetable and fruit supermarkets will form "grocery shopping groups", which are often mostly elderly. The dealers of Zhang's gang used group chats to help attract traffic and find elderly customers by wooing these store owners.
In the health care center, there is a "treasure of the town" for physical testing - sub-health assessment instrument, which is claimed to be the most advanced machine in the world, which can detect 8 major systems of the human body and 423 indicators.
What exactly are the miraculous "Uuricell", "Selenium Treasure" and the so-called high-end testing instruments?
According to the public interest litigation prosecutor, after contacting professional institutions for testing, "Yurisel" is a plant-based protein drink similar to almond milk at a cost price of 58 yuan, and "Selenium Bao" is a tablet that belongs to endurance sports nutrition food, with a cost price of 22 yuan per bottle. Neither product had any effect, but after the criminal gang boasted of its efficacy, it was sold to the victim at a price of more than 1,000 yuan.
After investigation, the "sub-health assessment instrument" used for physical testing is just an empty shell, and the inspector can generate a unified examination report by clicking the button of the relevant color. In addition, some medical devices in the rehabilitation center are not even registered or recorded.
After review, from June 2023 to December 2023, a total of more than 280 people were deceived, and the amount involved was more than 340 yuan. Recently, the Pudong New Area Procuratorate prosecuted 55 people, including Wang Moushan and Zhang Mouwen, on suspicion of fraud. The case is being further processed. According to the Shanghai Procuratorate
Source: Huashang Net-Huashang Daily
![It was revealed on the Internet that "37 tourists with the group were detained and the shopping store was not allowed to leave", Xishuangbanna official:[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)