| I admit it. I am a Baby Boomer. This is said with | | | | If you are a travel agent who deals in the Asian |
| some trepidation as this means confessing I can | | | | market or is thinking about it, then listen up. Dr. |
| remember when most television shows were | | | | Laurent says that China's one-child policy has |
| filmed in black and white. I can also recall seeing | | | | created a deep divide between older and younger |
| photos of Civil War soldiers when they were still | | | | generations in the same way that Baby Boomers |
| alive. Granted they were in their nineties, old as | | | | in Japan have impacted the generational divide. |
| the hills, and were drummer boys when the war | | | | Here in a nutshell are travel trends predicted for |
| was going on, and I myself when was a tiny tot | | | | Generations Baby Boomers, X and Y: |
| when I saw their photos, but still... | | | | - The Japanese have the largest and most |
| That being said, I can also be proud that we Baby | | | | affluent Baby Boomer market in the Pacific Asia. |
| Boomers have contributed to the significant | | | | - The Over-40 group in Hong Kong, Chinese Taipai |
| technological growth that has astounded the world | | | | and Korea is climbing the fastest and hence are |
| once we got past the Flower Children, the | | | | predicted to start traveling more. |
| Vietnam War and Watergate. Of course, we have | | | | - 1% of China's 200 million Baby Boomers are |
| also produced Bill Clinton and George Bush, but | | | | endowed with a reasonable amount of money |
| that's another story. As we jog into the New | | | | and time. (I should hope so. Everything in the US |
| Millennium many of us are retiring in mass | | | | is made in China, practically. Let's lure them to the |
| numbers and hitting the road. We are a travel | | | | US and get our money back!). |
| agent's dream come true as with credit card in | | | | - India has the youngest market. |
| hand, we roam the world. | | | | - Japanese Baby Boomers and Generation X are |
| Recently, in Pattaya, Thailand, the 55th Pacific Asia | | | | driving the country's outbound travel. |
| Travel Agency (PATA) held a session on "Baby | | | | - Australian and New Zealand Baby Boomers |
| Boomers and the Challenge of Generations X and | | | | spend an average of AU$200-AU$300 per day. |
| Y in relation to the Far Eastern market and the | | | | (Big Spenders come from DownUnder. Don't |
| Pacific Rim" which is worth noting. In case you | | | | forget it!) |
| couldn't tell Generation X from a hole in the | | | | - German Baby Boomer travelers to the Asia |
| ground, here is a quickie course in Generation | | | | Pacific region prefer to create their own holiday |
| terminology starting from 1900. | | | | package Generations X and Y appear difficult to |
| - 1900-1910 Interbellum Generation | | | | predict, but it would appear that Generation Y |
| - 1910-1924 G.I. Generation | | | | prefers to purchase consumer goods. Think |
| - 1911-1924 Greatest Generation | | | | computers, big screen televisions and cell phones |
| - 1929-1956 American High | | | | here. And guess who is in the forefront of the |
| - 1925-1945 Silent Generation | | | | traveling scene? Yup. The Baby Boomers. |
| - 1946-1964 Baby Boomers | | | | However, if I were a Generation X'er travel |
| - 1948-1962 Beat Generation | | | | agent, I would start worrying about my peers |
| - 1954-1965 Generation Jones | | | | stooped over their computer keyboards and only |
| - 1964-1984 Consciousness Revolution | | | | getting vicarious thrills from the Travel Channel. |
| - 1958-1968 Baby Busters | | | | Maybe they should rename the Baby Boomers |
| - 1961-1981 Generation X | | | | the "Get-Up and Go" generation! After the last of |
| - 1975-1985 MTV Generation | | | | the Baby Boomers goes to that final travel |
| - 1984-2005 Culture Wars Generation | | | | destination in the sky, I hope they have figured |
| - 1981-1986 Boomerang Generation | | | | out a way to get the Generations we have left |
| - 1982-2003 Generation Y Don't ask me who | | | | behind off their duffs. |
| makes up this stuff up, but there you are. Now | | | | But probably by then they will have invented |
| back to the PATA conference. It turns out that | | | | "virtual travel" with all the thrills but none of the |
| Asia is not a "young" market, according to Asian | | | | spills. Talk about your armchair traveler! |
| Demographics CEO and Expert, Dr. Clint Laurent. | | | | |