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Baby Boomers – The Ultimate Upgrade? via Lisa Migani and Peter Robinson

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23 Jan 2018

Baby Boomers – The Ultimate Upgrade? via Lisa Migani and Peter Robinson

These days, retirement or semi-retirement no longer means the end is near. Instead, while it does mean a reduction in or end to working life, many retirees are now able to enjoy a further 20-30 more years of life ahead of them. Increasingly this has become another fulfilling life chapter in which greater numbers of people are remaining active and taking full advantage of the extra time they have without the need to work.

Due to improvements in levels of healthcare, age expectancies are increasing, meaning a greater ability for retirees or semi-retirees to enjoy active lifestyles, filled with travel and more. Instead of being content simply spending these years sitting around watching TV or staying at home gardening, increasing numbers of retired Europeans are interested in travel, staying active and living life to the full.

At RDO8 conference at the Don Carlos Leisure Resort & Spa, Lisa Migani, Director of Business Development Europe at First National Trustee Company (FNTC), and Peter Robinson, CEO of the Association International Property Professionals (AIPP) and the leading Partner in ProMatura, gave an insightful and very useful presentation entitled “Baby Boomers – The ultimate upgrade?”.

As Lisa and Peter explained to attendees, free from responsibilities such as work and children, a growing number of individuals are choosing new housing options later on in life. Rather than staying put in one large property in their home country, more Europeans, including Brits, are deciding to downsize their base property, then buying a holiday home abroad. For many in this demographic, who have worked hard all their lives, this is no longer a dream but something they are able to turn into a reality.

This growing trend presents a significant possible future opportunity for RDO resort owners to capitalise on by offering tailor made products within their current resorts. These new products could entice these semi-retirees and retirees who have a large disposable income, plenty of new found free time and the desire and opportunity to live and travel abroad more.

During their presentation, Lisa and Peter discussed findings from the US and UK and how in the US there has been a significant growth in popularity of residential retirement villages. These villages differ from care homes which are simply designed to care for old people with health related problems such as dementia or significant physical disability. Instead, residential retirement villages are designed around providing an array of excellent amenities suited to active and mobile retirees, such as sporting facilities, entertainment, shops, restaurants, cafes and other areas to meet up as a community.

Over the past 33 years, ProMatura has been the number one age-qualified housing consultancy in the USA. The company utilises a vast amount of empirical data to accurately predict the success of any residential development in the world, based on what will work, where and why. By being able to successfully show what potential residents actually want and what they will really pay for these products, ProMatura has been able to save their clients millions of dollars over the past 33 years.

With the growing demand for these type of residential retirement villages across Europe including the UK, ProMatura has expanded into this market to take advantagement of these opportunities. As Lisa and Peter explained during their presentation, RDO members are also perfectly positioned to be able to attract a growing segment of the baby boomer generation who are interested in second home ownership abroad.

Through using the model that ProMatura has utilised to accurately predict what works and what doesn’t in terms of what people want from a residential retirement property, based on amenities, cost, style, size and a whole host of other variables, RDO members can customise different products to suit these needs.

RDO member resorts are already in an excellent position to capitalise on this growing demand, as they offer many of the features that retirees are looking for such as great quality restaurants, bars and cafes, sporting facilities, activities and entertainment, a sense of community, excellent customer service and the travel and active lifestyle that many older people crave after retiring from their job.

It is both an excellent sign for the future that older age demographics are remaining fit, healthy and active into their later decades of life, and an excellent opportunity for RDO member resorts to attract new clients. It is now down to these resorts to make use of this opportunity by offering the right products at an affordable price, and marketing them in a successful way.

Here at RDO we would like to once again thank Lisa and Peter for their very interesting presentation at RDO8.

You can find out more about the FNTC via their website and by connecting with them on LinkedIn.

You can find out more about ProMatura via their website and by connecting with them on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. You can find out more about AIPP via their website and by connecting with them on LinkedIn and Twitter.

If you would like to discuss anything with RDO regarding this blog post or other relevant topics, then simply add the hashtag #RDO8 or #RDOdigital to your tweet. Alternatively search #RDO8 or #RDOdigital on Twitter to see what else we’ve been discussing and you can easily get involved in the conversation.

The RDO8 conference 2017 was sponsored by CLC World Resorts & Hotels, Diamond Resorts International, Interval International and RCI at the Platinum level, and Dial An Exchange, Light Enterprises and Shawbrook Bank at the Gold level. We thank them for their support.

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