Over 50s 'have The Money To Travel'

Rising house prices over the last three decades mean that older people from the UK now have the money to enjoy luxury and exotic holidays, an industry expert has said.

Sean Tipton, press office for the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), explained that older people are now in the position to be able to afford first-class plane tickets and to stay in top-of-the-range hotels.

He added: "They're probably the most affluent generation and they have a big disposable income.

"They'd have bought their houses thirty years ago and they've gone up substantially in value; a lot of them are cashing in on that and using that money to travel the world."

Mr Tipton explained that the over-50s group are "less inclined to take beach holidays", but that they still opted for "something involving activity".

He argued: "That's partly because they're generally very well travelled.

"People have been going abroad in large numbers since the 1960s, and people in their fifties have been taking foreign holidays for 45-odd years. So with a lot of the more traditional things, they've already been there and done it. They want something else."

Recently, the Guardian recommended a number of gap year options for older travellers. These included leading community and environmental projects in places like Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Malaysia.

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