MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
In 2011, Debbie Marshall, 56, set up the Silver Travel Advisor website and its magazine, to offer impartial advice about holidays to the over-50s. Debbie lives in London with her partner, nick, an advertising executive-turnedchef. They have seven children between them, aged 15 to 29. ON NEW Year’s Eve 2009, I went to my father’s golf club for supper.
We were sitting with five couples in their late 60s and early 70s and all they talked about was holidays. They each had five or six booked for the coming year.
They explained that they were healthy, had good pensions and were keen to spend their remaining years enjoying adventures. I had worked in the travel industry for 25 years, but it was eye-opening.
[The travel website] TripAdvisor was becoming popular, too. My dad’s friends said they looked at it, but never knew who was writing the reviews. It could be an 18-yearold backpacker who was thrilled there was a disco next door.
But mature travellers wanted a peaceful room, a reading light and a proper magnifying mirror.
So I began to dream up a place where like-minded people of a certain age could read trusted content, with recommendations written by people like themselves, and input their own ideas, too.
At the time, I was the managing director of a villa and ski specialist company. I loved my job, but I could see a gap in the market for ‘silver’ travel. I was also coming up to 50 myself and having an end-ofdecade ‘What’s next?’ moment.
I quit my job and wrote a proper business plan with an accountant. I used my savings to build the website and invited investors to put in the initial capital needed.
We’re not a tour operator — we don’t sell holidays — so we can be totally independent. The website and magazine are run by a team of mature industry professionals. One of our best reviewers is a retired policeman! My mantra is to employ older people who can empathise with the people they deal with.
You can’t patronise the over-50s — many of whom are tearing up the road map and travelling to Antarctica or Peru. But some of our clients may have more limited walking ability, so we can advise on steps and lifts and we always use a large font for ageing eyes.
Today, we have 92,000 signed-up members. I’m so glad I spotted an area that wasn’t being addressed by the travel industry.
silvertraveladvisor.com