Indeed, when we were in the remote virgin rainforests of Danum Valley in Sabah, over Easter, the majority of clients were in their 60s and mainly from Europe. Retired, well-heeled, adventurous – they’ve got time and money to travel to the remotest corners of the world.

One man, a retired British chief executive from a Swiss pharmaceutical company, had trekked in places such as Tasmania, Nepal and Tropical North Queensland. “This is very similar to Tassie,” he said, making us wonder about the humidity in the southernmost island of Australia.

Another couple, also English, in their late 50s was into softer adventure and preferred gentler walks. They had done Sukau and after Danum, they were going to flop by the poolside of Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort in Kota Kinabalu.

This is precisely the customer segment that a new report, issued by ITB Berlin, says the travel industry should focus on.

A new report, shared by ITB Berlin, calls on the travel industry to focus on the over-55s as “more and more older people are enjoying both culture and wellness on their vacations”.

By 2020, the over 55s will make up the majority of the population in Germany. The report, commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, examines one of the major factors influencing tourism, “the impact of demographic changes on tourism and the implications for tourism policies”.

According to the report, demographic changes will see the older generation occupying a larger market share. They prefer to travel abroad outside normal holiday periods, with culture, nature, and wellness activities ranking among the main holiday attractions. In future this generation will be the driving force in the tourism market.

Older people in particular will also be working in tourism jobs. Demographic changes will highlight the growing competition and increasing lack of specialists in this field.

In future, the challenge facing tourism will be to counter this imbalance favouring a specific group of consumers and to reverse the decline in local holiday travel, said the report.

Featured image credit (asian senior couple hiking): Ockra/iStock