Celebration Vacations popular with baby boomers

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

WASHINGTON, DC – AARP Travel today announced new insights related to Celebration Vacations.

WASHINGTON, DC – AARP Travel today announced new insights related to Celebration Vacations. Taking a Celebration Vacation is a popular way to celebrate special milestones in life like anniversaries, birthdays, family reunions and weddings.

AARP research found that the joy and satisfaction of travel make it a top choice for celebrating an important milestone with 78 percent of people 45+ saying that they have taken or intend to take a Celebration Vacation in the next two years instead of throwing a party, getting a piece of jewelry or other item.

“Travel is the number one aspirational activity for the boomer generation, and we are seeing not just AARP members but also non-members who seem to prefer investing in a Celebration Vacation for their life’s special moments,” said Sami Hassanyeh, AARP Chief Digital Officer. “Our research shows that Celebration Vacations are replacing parties, special events, jewelry, big-ticket items for the home or new car purchases with an increasing number of people 45+ wanting to travel more with their family and friends.”

AARP Travel has been leading the field of travel for people 50 or older and their families since 1958 and identifies emerging trends that influence how their members dream, plan and book vacations. Celebrating anniversaries is the number one reason people 45+ plan a Celebration Vacation with 87 percent of them choosing a vacation over a party, jewelry, or other item to celebrate anniversaries. People 45+ indicated celebrating milestone birthdays as the second biggest motivation for them to plan a Celebration Vacation (77 percent) followed by retirement (69 percent) and a wedding (66 percent).

Key Reasons Why Americans 45+ Choose Travel to Celebrate Personal Milestones
There are a variety of reasons why people 45+ choose travel as a way to celebrate personal milestones including the following:

1. Enjoy traveling, getting away: 23 percent
2. Celebrate a special occasion: 21 percent
3. Fun thing to do: 14 percent
4. Allows me to spend quality time with friends/family: 9 percent
5. Wanted to go somewhere new/different: 8 percent
6. Wanted a romantic getaway: 3 percent
7. Wanted to do something special: 3 percent

Top Celebration Vacation destinations for Americans 45+:

63 percent of the respondents took Celebration Vacations in the U.S. as opposed to international destinations in the last two years with the top destinations being:

1. Las Vegas
2. Disney
3. Los Angeles
4. Florida
5. Hawaii
6. New York City
7. New Orleans
8. Chicago
9. California
10. Alaska

18 percent of the respondents chose tropical/beach destinations with the most popular beaches being:

1. Caribbean
2. Hawaii
3. Puerto Rico
4. Bahamas
5. St. Martin
6. Cabo
7. Cancun
8. Maui
9. Negril

While the dream of a Celebration Vacation is becoming more mainstream as a way to celebrate personal milestones, there are some challenges that people 45+ face planning for one.

Top ten hardships in planning a Celebration Vacation include:

1. Sticking to a budget (17 percent)
2. Budgeting for a trip (13 percent)
3. Identifying activities at a destination (11 percent)
4. Choosing dates (9 percent)
5. Developing an itinerary (8 percent)
6. Booking airfare (8 percent)
7. Coordinating ground transportation (7 percent)
8. Communicating changes in itinerary (7 percent)
9. Making reservations at a destination (7 percent)
10. Communicating details to travelers (5 percent)

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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