Learning vacations appeal to baby boomers

By Theresa Agovino
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Growing up, Rosalind Tedards always was interested in the Civil War.

Rosalind Tedards of Greenville, S.C., has 489 books on the Civil War. Three years ago, she and her husband took a riverboat cruise that offered not just relaxation, but immersion in Civil War history. Associated Press

Her fascination grew with time. And so three years ago, the baby boomer and her husband took an eight-day riverboat cruise that offered immersion in Civil War history, allowing them to visit battlefields, follow the route of a Union cavalry raid and hear daily lectures from historians.

"It was fascinating," Tedards said. "We don't like to just sit on a beach. We like to learn something."

The baby boom generation that backpacked through Europe on dollars a day and joined ashrams in India has matured into a different kind of traveler.

Increasingly, those between 39 and 57 want an educational experience like a Civil War cruise when they vacation. No longer content to return home with postcards of historic landmarks and suitcases of souvenirs, boomers want to come back transformed into better cooks, more proficient photographers or more learned people.

"Boomers are workaholics. Even on vacation they want to learn," said Chuck Underwood, founder and president of the Generational Imperative, a marketing consultancy in Cincinnati.

Underwood noted that a growing number of boomers are empty-nesters, with more time and money to spend on themselves now that the kids are educated and out of the house.

Educational vacations that appeal to boomers can be very expensive. The posh Orient-Express Hotels chain offers several learning options, among them, a five-day cooking course in Venice that costs about $4,145. Another course allows travelers to improve their botanical and wildlife painting skills in exotic locales; it can set an aspiring artist back $3,275.

Orient-Express spokeswoman Pippa Isbell said boomers make up the vast majority of the classes.

"Many of our clients are well-traveled, so when they return to a destination, they want to do something different," Isbell said.

She added that in the competitive world of luxury travel, the classes give Orient an edge.

Delta Queen Steamboat Co, which sponsored the Civil War trip and has other educational tours that feature Southern and American Indian culture, is thinking of more topics with boomer appeal. People over age 60 represent the largest group of the company's clients, but the cruises with the intellectual overtones are more popular with boomers.

International studies and education professor Ed Williams founded TraveLearn 26 years ago, believing adults would enjoy vacations during which they could study abroad. Boomers make up the vast majority of his clients, taking trips led by professors with expertise in the country being visited. The tour leader's lectures are supplemented by talks given by local experts and classes in local art forms. For example, travelers on the trip to China can take a calligraphy class.

Peter Laing doesn't typically take tours but when he decided to visit China he opted for a TraveLearn trip because of the country's vast and complicated history.

"I feel I have a deeper knowledge of the country," said Laing, a 50-year old manufacturing executive in Atlanta. "I don't think I would have had as rich an experience without the tour."