OLDER CHINESE BLAZE NEWER TRAILS
A growing number of retirees are hitting the road. And the travel industry is maturing to serve this emerging market, Yang Feiyue reports.
Zhang Mengyun has been living life in motion since she retired five years ago. The former accountant from Beijing has spent the past halfdecade on the road, traveling throughout the country.
“My son has a job and is independent,” says Zhang, who’s in her 50s.
“So, I don’t have much to worry about at home. I figured: Why not go out with my friends and have fun?”
Her appreciation of landscapes and Buddhism led her to such destinations in western China as Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, and the Tibet autonomous region.
She enjoys snapping and sharing photos of ordinary life in the places she visits.
Zhang is among a growing number of elderly Chinese who are using their time and money to travel.
China is home to 241 million people older than 60. They account for over 17 percent of the country’s population, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
Over 80 percent of them expressed an interest in travel in a 2016-20 market study about older tourists by the Shenzhen-based company, China Investment Consulting.
Domestic online travel agency Lvmama, which is headquartered in Shanghai, reports that 32 percent of its customers in the first four months of the year were over 50 years old, a rise of 5 percentage points over the same period in 2017.
Most spend six or seven days on trips, compared with an average of three days for younger travelers.
That’s largely because they have more time since they have fewer responsibilities, Lvmama official Zou Qingling explains.
They can go slower so they don’t overexert themselves, Zou adds.
They are keen on rail travel, especially aboard tourist trains.
“Tourist trains offer large activity spaces,” Zou says.
“They allow old friends to chat freely. It makes trips easy and fun.”
Routes connecting the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Gansu province and Chongqing municipality are popular with retirees.
Rail travel from Shanghai to Kazakhstan received many bookings in May. Over half of the passengers are ages 60 or over. Their children often accompany them, the company reports.
The government and travel businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the market potential and are working to tap into it.
The government introduced guidelines covering services, safety and healthcare for elderly tourists in September 2016.
It requires that schedules shouldn’t be too hectic.
It suggests that sightseeing trips shouldn’t exceed three hours at a time and should include meal breaks. And travel to reach attractions shouldn’t exceed two hours at a time.
Packages should be all-inclusive and no extra fees should be added en route.
Products targeting elderly travelers have since diversified.
A booth shared by several agencies specializing in the sector was a hit at the three-day Beijing International Tourism Expo in mid-June.
One of the agencies, Yada Tourism, has engaged exclusively in travel packages for older people during the last three years.
“We found the market is huge,” the agency’s deputy general manger Shi Xiaoran says.
“There isn’t much competition at the moment.”
Shi chose to work in the sector partly because he used to book trips for his parents. He discovered most products were geared toward young people. Travelers around his parents’ age had few options.
The company operates according to the 2016 guidelines. It prepares wheelchairs, first-aid kits and walking sticks for every trip. It also employs health and fitness specialists and nutritionists design meals.
Yada Tourism serves people up to the age of 85.
Its bookings by elderly customers have increased by nearly a third annually over the past three years.
“Most hear about us through wordof-mouth from their friends, who’ve booked with us before,” he says.
The company offers long stays at a more than 300-hectare resort in Zhejiang province’s water town, Wuzhen, and a series of village tours in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.
“The Wuzhen facility is equipped with learning aids, apartments and medical facilities for elderly tourists,” Shi says.
“Activities make their experiences more fun.”
Yada Tourism plans to develop overseas trips for senior citizens in the future, Shi says.
Beijing Xiyanghong Travel Agency has developed 30 routes for elderly tourists in recent years.
The company serves travelers between the ages of 50 and 80, and doesn’t require family accompaniment, deputy general manager Pan Di says.
Yantai International Travel Service began to serve older travelers 40 years ago.
Nearly all of its customers are 60 or older, general manager Li Jun says.
Shandong province’s Yantai city has long been a popular getaway among the elderly, who enjoy its hot springs and forests. It received 12.88 million visits by retirees in 2017, the local tourism authority reports.
“The elderly tourism market has been on the rise since the ’80s,” Li says.
The agency has added local folk customs and intangible heritage to its itineraries, Li adds.
The city has developed special study and health tours for older tourists. It plans to develop international art, spice, food and liquor museums to serve them, it announced at the World Senior Tourism Congress in Yantai in late May.
The National Working Commission on Aging estimates elderly Chinese travelers’ spending will hit 106 trillion yuan ($15.5 trillion) by 2050.
Indeed, older Chinese are presenting new opportunities for the travel industry, especially as the market matures.
I figured: Why not go out with my friends and have fun?”
Zhang Mengyun,
retiree