My Swiss Trip with Retirees
I recently traveled to Switzerland with my mom, and I was blown away not only by the majestic beauty of the Alps but also by the amazing people in our tour group. This was my first experience traveling with a tour group, and as a 30-year-old, I was the youngest among a lively bunch of travel buddies mostly in their 60s and 70s.
Spending time with these wonderful aunties and uncles was a highlight of the trip. We enjoyed breathtaking views of Jungfrau and Mont Blanc and witnessed a stunning sunrise at Matterhorn in Zermatt. Besides snapping countless photos with and for my new friends, I had the chance to chat with them and learn about their travel patterns and shopping habits. It dawned on me that I was traveling with some of the most wanted (and perhaps most discerning) customers in the Taiwanese market.
The best part about chatting with these Taiwanese seniors is their eagerness to share.
“I’ve been to more than 60 countries.”
“My husband complains I’m never home because I go on trips with tour groups every other month.”
“I’m heading to the States right after this trip.”
“This is my third time in Switzerland with a tour group. It’s so beautiful; I don’t mind coming again and again.”
I was shocked. This tour lasts 14 days and costs over $6,000 per person. From my conversations with them, I learned that many of them travel with agencies 2-6 times a year. Even if each trip averages $4,000, they spend at least $8,000 to $24,000 annually on travel. To put this in perspective, Taiwan’s annual household income per capita was $16,714 in December 2022, while the USA’s was $39,167 (CEIC Data).
How did this happen? While many seniors in the States struggle with retirement, Taiwanese seniors can spend more than the average family's annual income on travel alone. Isn’t this fascinating? I decided to dig deeper into this group of people.
The "Wealthy" Retired
Taiwanese seniors possess four highly coveted traits for any business, not just travel agencies: purchasing power, time, word of mouth, and brand loyalty. I refer to this group as the "wealthy" retired in Taiwan. The quotation marks around "wealthy" are because they are not super rich by definition, but they have more than enough for retirement and even for their children.
Purchasing Power
Let’s delve into a bit of history. Many from my mother’s generation emerged from poverty and started accumulating wealth during the 1980s and 1990s. They experienced the "Taiwan Miracle," a period of rapid economic development in the latter half of the twentieth century. This generation often profited from manufacturing and trade, and there was even a Hokkien slang phrase from that era: "Our feet are covered with money." It was relatively easier (compared to now) for Taiwanese people to amass a fortune and succeed in business.
Well-off, Yet Frugal
Even though many Taiwanese seniors acquired wealth early on, they tend to save and invest rather than spend it immediately. Growing up during a frugal post-World War II period, they always prepared for crises. The tension in the Taiwan Strait only heightened their alertness toward worst-case scenarios. Despite their earnings, they prioritized saving for emergencies and their children's education over entertainment and holidays. Back then, travel wasn't as accessible or popular as it is now. Travel agencies were just starting, and few people traveled abroad regularly. The Taiwanese seniors often invested their money in real estate and stocks early on and kept the investments until now. Today, Taiwan ranks 16th globally in terms of the house price-to-income ratio, reflecting high housing prices. Consequently, many of my Swiss travel buddies accumulated wealth over the past decades and can now afford a more than comfortable retirement.
The Willingness and Urgency to Spend
Given that Taiwanese seniors have money in the bank, why did they change their mind and decide to spend more on travel now?
"I have devoted all my life to my children and family. It’s time for me to treat myself nicely and see the world."
"My children have stable jobs and happy lives now. I will take care of myself first from now on!"
"I plan to play hard and go anywhere I want while I still can! I won’t wait until I can’t walk anymore and then regret not traveling enough."
These sentiments were echoed repeatedly during my 14-day trip. Seniors frequently discussed the "right way of living," reminding each other and themselves to enjoy life while they still can. After years of sacrifice and saving to provide for their families, they feel it’s now time to stop worrying about others and reward themselves.
Not only are they willing to spend money on travel and enjoy life, but they also feel a sense of urgency. Despite caring for their health and exercising regularly, they worry about losing the energy or health required for long journeys. Throughout my trip, I often heard them expressing frustration about their declining health and energy levels. They feel that the time is running out and they fear missing out on important destinations. As a result, they strive to fit in as many travel plans as possible while they are still able.
Time
The 'wealthy' retired have plenty of time to travel. With their children busy at work, they often spend their days exercising, watching TV, and socializing with other retirees when not traveling. This flexibility is a boon for travel agencies, as they can fill up off-peak seasons (summer and winter vacations) with ease. Additionally, these seniors can afford to take long-duration trips, making them ideal customers for extended travel packages.
Word of Mouth
From my conversations with my Swiss travel buddies, I discovered why they were willing to spend so much on a trip to Switzerland. Despite the high cost and the long flights that seniors usually dislike, three primary sources influenced their decision: LINE groups and Facebook, in-person gatherings with friends (often other retirees), and television. This aligns with my understanding of Taiwanese seniors’ primary sources of information. Here are some typical scenarios of how they ended up on this Swiss trip:
Scenario 1: Social Media Influence
"I saw beautiful photos on LINE and Facebook. My friends took breathtakingly beautiful photos in Switzerland. They told me I have to visit while I can still move freely!"
Scenario 2: In-Person Recommendations
"I'm in a retired floral design class. My classmates recently went to Switzerland and it was so beautiful. I saw her photos and knew I had to come."
Scenario 3: Television and Media
"I watched Crash Landing on You on Netflix (the other aunties gasped and agreed 'that was a really good show' as background noise) and the Switzerland scenes were so pretty. My friends told me it is indeed as pretty as it was filmed in the K-drama series."
(At the time of airing, Crash Landing on You became the highest-rated tvN series and the second highest-rated series in Korean cable television history in both viewership ratings and number of viewers. — Wikipedia)
Even during the trip, I observed how these trip photos went potentially viral among the senior communities right before my eyes. On the bus, I noticed that they almost exclusively used three apps: LINE, Photos, and Facebook. Many seniors regularly shared their trip progress daily. At the end of each day, as we traveled to our hotel, they would open the Photos app to pick and delete photos to save storage space. Then, they would immediately share these photos in their favorite LINE groups, which consisted of family and retiree friends. Finally, if they enjoyed sharing travel diaries too, they would select a few of the best photos and write a travel diary on Facebook. Naturally, all their friends in Taiwan would like and comment both online and offline.
This simple yet powerful marketing pipeline amazed me. While businesses struggle to sell to younger generations in the increasingly complex digital marketing space, marketing to Taiwanese seniors follows a relatively straightforward, traditional strategy. A good product and service will spread and sell rapidly within their community. Your customers become your sales agents. From my observations of my Swiss travel buddies, word of mouth is the primary way they make large purchases. This leads to the next key quality about Taiwanese seniors: brand loyalty.
Brand Loyalty
Discerning Customers
The "wealthy" retired are the best and perhaps the most discerning customers. There's a popular phrase in Taiwan: CP value, which stands for cost-performance ratio. Taiwanese seniors seek "high CP value" in their purchases. Their purchasing power is significant, but they always look for bargains. It irritates them when others can purchase the same thing at a lower price—they do not want to lose in the CP value race. It’s not about the money; it's about losing face and not making smart decisions. Trust me, they will find out exactly how much everyone paid for a trip when they socialize, and bad decisions will be critically judged.
Relationship-Oriented Purchases
The seniors also care deeply about relationships. For them, purchases should not be purely transactional. They prefer to buy from the same brands or from people they consider decent and trustworthy. This makes the role of the traditional travel agent extremely important, which is very different from my travel planning experience. I research and book travels all by myself and I’ve never interacted with a travel agent.
From the trip, I noticed that both seniors and travel guides stressed the importance of traveling with reputable agencies like Sunday Tours and Perfect Tours. Most seniors have a "contact" or travel agent at these agencies who regularly shares the latest trip itineraries and provides excellent service. Their prices might be higher, but the CP values are unquestionable. They are skeptical about "internet brands"—the agencies that primarily operate online and only young people would choose, which may not offer the same CP value. These agencies provide more economic rather than luxurious trips while maintaining good CP values.
Strong Yet Fragile Brand Loyalty
The brand loyalty among Taiwanese seniors is strong yet fragile. During the trip, I heard many members express interest in joining the guide’s next tour to Italy, despite not knowing the time, price, or detailed itinerary. They trust the tour guide because of her top-notch service and the high CP value of the trips. They even joked about being fans of the tour guide and following her wherever she takes them, as long as the quality remains the same.
However, this loyalty can be fragile. I heard from the group that they used to follow another tour guide, Chen, for years. However, his tour quality declined over the past year, and they stopped joining his trips. The power of word of mouth became evident again. Other team members who knew of Tour Guide Chen exclaimed that his CP value was no longer good and mentioned they would probably not go with him next time. I witnessed how Chen lost quite a bit of business just from listening to the conversations among the seniors all the way in Switzerland. Poor Chen.
So here, I've introduced four qualities that make Taiwanese 'wealthy' retirees the best and possibly the most discerning customers in the Taiwanese market. While my blog tends to be analytical, I want to express my gratitude to them for sharing a delightful 14 days with me in Switzerland. They were incredibly enjoyable to converse with. Beyond learning about their travel habits and motivations, they also imparted invaluable life lessons from their experiences before retirement. It was fun.
Service, service, service
The blog could have ended here, but I decided to write a bit more about my experience and respect for Taiwanese travel agencies. I've never enjoyed a trip where I literally needed to worry about nothing. The travel agency's service was incredible, and now I understand why the travel agents are able to win over the ‘wealthy’ retired as loyal customers.
The extent of service provided by Taiwanese travel agencies, specifically travel agents and tour guides, is likely beyond Westerners’ imagination. Six months before the trip, a LINE group was created for all team members to ask questions and give suggestions. The range of questions was extremely detailed and repetitive:
“What’s the weather like in Switzerland?”
“Do I need to bring an umbrella?”
“Do I need to bring this coat?” (with a photo of a windbreaker attached)
“How much money should I bring?”
“What’s the exchange rate for Swiss Francs?”
However, the travel agent was always patient and nicely answered all the concerns.
On the first day of the trip, the travel agent provided each of us with a travel plug adapter and a SIM card with a sufficient data plan. Every day upon arriving at the hotel, the tour guide often helped set up Wi-Fi for each smartphone and iPad.
I was most impressed by the tour guide’s meticulous trip route planning for her customers, especially regarding restroom stops. In European tourist destinations, tourists often need to pay $1 or $2 for restrooms. Knowing that her group members cared a lot about CP values and disliked paying for restrooms, the tour guide planned routes in each city with free restroom stops. By the end of the trip, the restroom planning was the most praised service offered by the tour guide, surpassing even her professional guidance on the history of the Duomo di Milano.
Another, perhaps less discussed, reason for Taiwan tour guide's extensive service is the language barrier. Most of my Swiss travel buddies do not speak English or other foreign languages, making them highly dependent on the tour guides. They were afraid of making mistakes, such as doing things that did not conform to local manners, or getting lost in foreign countries. This added a lot of unmentioned extra services and stress to the travel guide’s responsibilities.
Kudos to the tour guides in Taiwan. They exemplified that customer service is about anticipating and addressing what the customers care about and need, not just adhering to the textbook definition of what a tour guide should do. After this trip, I developed immense respect for Taiwanese travel professionals.
So that wraps up my trip to beautiful Switzerland. Not your typical travel diary, but I hope you enjoyed learning more about the retired community in Taiwan.
Ciao ciao.