In June, China's first international silver health care study tour project "Silver Hair Fun Study Tour· Realize Dreams to See the World" was officially launched on the "China Merchants Eden". Under the guidance of Shanghai Open University, the project is led by Shanghai Education Television, and jointly built by Shanghai University for the Elderly, Viking Cruises and China Merchants Viking Cruises. It is understood that the project will link multiple advantageous resources, integrate the learning and tourism experience of humanities and arts, provide customized health and education tours for the silver-haired people in Kochi, and help build a new model and new benchmark for the elderly service format.
It is understood that as early as May 21, the first "Health and Wellness Study Tour" master experience class has been "lectured" in the China office of Viking Cruises, and the famous musician Zhang Kangming and the founder of the art talk show Royle were specially invited. At the same time as the launch of the project, not only was the Viking Cruises China office officially awarded as an off-campus research base of Shanghai University for the Elderly, but also announced a series of in-depth cooperation from the establishment of the "Health and Wellness Study Tour Master Class" teaching point to the future of Viking Cruises and China Merchants Viking Cruises to jointly provide venue and content planning support for the filming of the "Health and Wellness Study Tour" series of feature films.
As Weiyun Chen, Senior Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at Viking Cruises, explains:
This cross-border in-depth cooperation for the senior citizens of Kochi focuses on sharing the advantages and experience of Viking Cruises and China Merchants Viking Cruises in the customization of international study tour experience, creating new tourism products and services for Chinese seniors, and enjoying a worry-free travel experience and a study tour project with a sense of local experience. ”
400 million, 50 trillion, "health and education tour" leverages the silver economy
With the change of Chinese population structure, the silver-haired group is gradually growing, according to statistics from the "2024 Blue Book of "Education +" Growth for the Middle-aged and Elderly released by Tencent, from 2023 to 2035, the elderly interest age population will grow from nearly 300 million to 400 million. At the beginning of this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly", which also mentioned that the development of the silver economy needs to focus on expanding the tourism service format.
Another data that should not be overlooked is:
Due to the continuous improvement and change of domestic economic development, as well as the increase in the number of middle-aged and elderly people, the demand of the silver-haired group is supported by the state's policy of improving the quality of life of the elderly, and the market size of the silver-haired economy is expected to reach 50 trillion yuan in 2050. At the same time, the cultural tourism industry, which meets the two dimensions of "self-worth" and "emotional expansion needs" of this group, is known as a good time to have industrial increments.
From the design of the in-depth cultural "slow" tour in the coastal areas of Asia with Chinese cities as the home port, to the international study tour route covering the famous cultural rivers of Europe, Viking Cruises and China Merchants Viking Cruises have a keen insight into the experience demands of this group - not only have the desire to explore and curiosity, but also prefer high-quality and valuable tourism products. Social needs and the characteristics of various aspects of knowledge and gain. In the "health and wellness study tour" products customized by Viking Cruises and China Merchants Viking Cruises, the above demands are also responded to in a timely manner, and the itinerary is more friendly to physical and mental health to meet the experience of "learning and traveling" in their favor.
By integrating the trinity of "health, education and tourism" with health and wellness education tours, Viking has taken the lead in seizing the development opportunities of the silver economy.
The four parties have joined hands to create an international "study and travel integration" project
As the first international silver "Silver Fun Study Tour· Dream to See the World" project launched in China, the four parties of Viking Cruises, China Merchants Viking Cruises, Shanghai University for the Aged and Shanghai Education Television have not only gathered the profound strength in the fields of elderly education and cultural tourism, but also built a new service model and new benchmark for the international silver tourism market.
A survey shows that the silver-haired people who pay attention to the improvement of self-worth are willing to accept new things and pay attention to high-quality tourism experience in tourism consumption, which is to capture these changes.
It is understood that the first international silver health care study tour project includes a series of public welfare courses, feature films, international study tours and other aspects. Taking the "Health and Wellness Study Tour Master Class" as an example, it is intended to invite 10 senior experts with profound attainments in the fields of culture, music, dance, painting, photography, collection, psychological healing and other fields to set up a star tutor group to teach 18 offline classes, the course focuses on in-depth cultural knowledge at home and abroad, such as European art history, landscape photography, famous painting appreciation, etc., so that the silver-haired people can get a unique experience of "learning and traveling".
In addition, the international study tour routes specially designed for Chinese silver-haired travelers, providing worry-free travel experience and local experience, are also carefully designed by Viking Cruises and China Merchants Viking Cruises, or the inland river routes of the Rhine and Danube rivers that appreciate the century-old cultural history of the hinterland of Europe, or the Asian coastal destination routes that appreciate the essence of coastal culture, will bring immersive high-quality travel experience to the silver-haired people with "slow travel" and "cultural travel".
"Intensive cultivation" customization, Viking locks in the "silver-haired family"
In recent years, Kochi's enthusiasm for tourism has become increasingly high. The portrait of the population in the "Report on the Development of Elderly Travel, Residence and Health Care in China" shows that:
People aged 55 to 60 have become the main force of travel, and the number of travelers has reached 6 percent; People between the ages of 61 and 65 account for more than 2 percent. Another study shows that the new generation of silver-haired people show more time, more frequent travel willingness and stronger spending power, and the iteration of travel demand is also changing, such as 71% of respondents said they want to enjoy customized programs for the elderly, and the travel standard has shifted from blindly pursuing cost-effective to pursuing high-quality services and experiences.
Based on the continuous attention to the pain points and needs of the silver-haired people, Viking Cruises, which brings comfortable and elegant luxury to the in-depth humanistic "slow" tour, has started the "intensive cultivation" of customized product design and service details, all of which are aimed at bringing them more humanistic customs and knowledge, and stimulating a sense of happiness and achievement.
From the professional and considerate "one-stop" pre-departure service of one-to-one visa agency and air ticket booking, to the beginning of the pick-up to the end of the trip, there are high-rated Viking travel concierge "little red people" to accompany the whole process; From fitting the eating habits of the elderly, sugar-free cakes and special desserts are provided, and freshly cooked noodle bars are opened for 18 hours to "warm the stomach" online; The ship is equipped with barrier-free elevators, handrails in guest room corridors and shower rooms to ensure the safety and convenience of travel to the greatest extent; The most respected sense of security for the silver-haired people comes from Viking's true full-Chinese service service, all signs and materials on board are Chinese, and the service staff and shore excursions have "little red men" with local professional tour guides to provide Chinese guided tours, so that the silver-haired group can easily understand the local history and culture.
It is understood that with Viking's "intensive cultivation" of customization, optimized design has come out. For example, in the re-planned 11-day European river cruise, more space will be left for guests to choose the activities and travel intensity according to their preferences; Shuttles will also be provided for guests who are exploring on their own; More cultural and recreational activities and cultural experiences will be added, and shore excursions will also provide more upgraded projects with a sense of local cultural experience, adapting to the new demand of "learning while traveling".
Launched the first international silver health care study tour in China, so that the Kochi silver people can expand their international vision and gain new knowledge at the "doorstep"; Create a high-quality communication platform to help them participate in more interesting social activities and expand their "circle of friends...... It was revealed that with the launch of the "Health and Wellness Study Tour" project, the feasibility of inviting star mentors as guest guests to carry out master classes on the cruise ship has also been put on the agenda.
Viking Cruises is deeply involved in the Kochi silver travel market, aiming to continue to expand the depth and breadth of travel, and to upgrade the learning experience to meet the spiritual needs of the silver people.