China's senior tourists could be a silver lining for travel firms

By Farah Master and Casey Hall

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Travel companies are betting that Chinese tourism could return to its pre-pandemic boom days if they tweak tours to avoid steep hikes, add nurses and healthcare professionals to their staff and offer discounts for the seniors they're targeting.

As China's population rapidly ages, and many in the middle-class face job uncertainty and a slowing economy, so-called silver tourism is on the rise, with more retirees, especially in affluent coastal cities, venturing out at home and abroad.

Many of these elders have accumulated significant savings during four decades of eye-watering economic growth, and they are younger than other travelling retirees as they leave the workforce as soon as 50 for women and 60 for men. Many have no grandchildren, so they have more free time.

Now companies inside and outside of China, and local travel authorities, are starting to tailor their services to the needs specific to this growing cohort.

"We are starting to see an increasing segment of elder Chinese consumers who are not only affluent but, more importantly, willing to spend on quality lifestyle pursuits and personal development," said Wee-Hoon Tan, senior vice-president of product development and marketing at Viking Cruises China.

"This is a big consumption mindset shift," Tan said, referring to a generation of Chinese who have been prudent with spending throughout their working lives.

About 300 million people currently aged 50 to 60 - almost equivalent to the entire U.S. population, are set to retire over the next 10 years, and the National Committee on Aging estimates silver travel will account for 50% of domestic travel by 2040.

In June, Swiss-based Viking Cruises and Shanghai's University for the Elderly, which is dedicated to offering courses to seniors, announced a partnership to combine history and culture courses with itineraries around coastal areas in Asia and on European rivers.

Viking's ships have barrier-free elevators, handrails in corridors and showers, larger fonts on television remote controls and toiletries to make it easier on elderly eyes. A fresh noodle bar opens for early breakfast.

Shanghai Railway Bureau also began targeting older travellers this year, introducing 10 long-distance tourist trains on scenic routes aimed at passengers aged 50-70 who want to experience "the diversity of local customs and national resources."

The trains, which pass through the cliffs of the eastern Huangshan mountains or through the terraced rice fields of Lishui, are staffed with nurses and equipped to provide healthcare services.

Traveller Tao Wen said having healthcare on hand gave her "peace of mind". The 56-year-old retired last year and has since travelled throughout China and Southeast Asia.

"Companies need to understand our spending habits differ from those of young people," Tao said. "We value cost-effectiveness."

In China, hotel chain Hilton offers a senior discount of up to 6% for people aged over 65 and organises tea tasting and wellness classes for them.

The elder boom is "clearly visible", said Wendy Huang, senior vice president at Hilton in Greater China.

GREEN TEA AND SLIPPERS

China's tourism academy predicts the number of active elderly travellers will surpass 100 million next year, when the domestic silver tourism market will hit 1 trillion yuan ($139.9 billion) annually.

Still, a frail social safety net, meagre pensions and patchy health and elderly care outside large cities may reduce retirees' ability and willingness to spend their savings on travel, analysts say.

The slowing economy may also exacerbate these issues, said Herald van der Linde, head of Asia Equity strategy at HSBC.

"But this process of ageing and shifting consumption patterns is taking place nonetheless," he said.

Silver travellers can choose off-peak periods in the calendar to make the most of hotel discounts, said Jane Sun, head of China's biggest online travel agency Trip.com.

"We advise our partners around the world to have Chinese food for breakfast, in the room," Sun said. "Having a tea pot with green tea, or slippers, doesn't cost too much, but will make the older generation feel more at home."

($1 = 7.1484 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Additional reporting by the Shanghai newsroom; Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Miral Fahmy)