According to a report in The Times, the number of over-65s taking overseas holidays has risen by 110 per cent since 1993 - and increasing numbers are plumping for adventurous activities.
One broker told the paper that his company was receiving 'lots of calls' from people interested in trips 'such as swimming with dolphins in Florida or diving on the Great Barrier Reef'.
Some retirees were even travelling for 'months at a time', historically the preserve of back-packing twenty-somethings.
The trend is thought to reflect a generation of relatively wealthy retirees, in possession of valuable, mortgage-free homes which can be sold for a 'down-grade', and pension packages which today's young can only dream about.
But one fly in the financial ointment can be the cost of travel insurance. Charges soar once you're over 50, said The Times, on the ground that medical claims become more prevalent. Once you get to 70, only about a third of brokers will consider you at all.
If the holiday involves anything remotely adventurous, it's even tougher - and, in insurance terms, scuba diving is high-risk.
But, said the paper, insurers were 'waking up' to the growing market in older travellers, so that options 'are improving'. |
