Older Australians more adventurous than their kids

Online travel company Expedia.co.nz questioned 1000 Australians and 500 New Zealanders - weighted to provide a cross-section of the population - about their travel tastes.

It found that older Kiwis are heading for Eastern Europe, South America, Africa or Asia. Nearly half of those in the 55-59 years age bracket said they were keen to travel to exotic places. Most of those in their twenties apparently dream only of trips to the standard destinations like Fiji, Rarotonga and Australia. Less than a third of those aged 25-29 were interested in going somewhere more adventurous.

As Expedia's local marketing manager puts it: "These survey findings fly in the face of conventional thought that 20-somethings are open-minded to new and different experiences.”. She went on to say: "The findings that New Zealanders of the baby-boomer generation are more up to veering off the well-beaten travel path is ... an indication that people are more intrigued by lesser-known destinations as they get older."

These findings are bang in line with the research I did with OMD that found that older Australians are more adventurous, more willing to take risks, more interested in technology than their kids.

I had to laugh having just read a blog from a young Kiwi who is definitely suffering from a sense of humour failure and is moaning about older people are to blame for all the ills of the world. If he ever reads this blog he might want to look at my letter to the FT on a similar subject. Come on mate, lighten up and take a few more long haul flights like your mum dad. Dick Stroud