Seniors Put Major Emphasis on Convenience

It seems that international travel for senior citizens is decided not so much by destinations and dollars as by comfort and convenience.

Where to go and what it will cost are still major factors, especially for older seniors constricted in discretionary travel spending. These seniors look for travel value.

Seniors have had their flings with solo travel. They’ve had it with airport hassles, baggage checking, transfers, finding hotels and restaurants and all the other details that seem adventurous to the young.

The answer often lies in escorted tours. These tours lack some freedom of choice but make up for it in security and the convenience of letting couriers and guides do all the work.

Generally, seniors seek leisurely tours, as few as possible one-night stays, shorter tour days, or at least no long, seemingly unending motor-coach drives.

For the most part they prefer meal- and entertainment-inclusive tours. And they prefer to travel with their peers.

Many Specialists

Many Southern California travel and tour agents specialize in such tours. Most are also members of STRAC, the organization dedicated to making travel easier and better.

Here are some of these agents and their international travel plans for spring and summer. (All prices are per person, based on sharing a double room and leaving from Los Angeles.)

Richard Adams Tours: Specialists in 12- to 15-day European tours with six trips this year. Best of Britain, May 16-30, $2,395; Best of France, June 11-25, $2,495; English and Scottish countryside, July 15-29, $2,795; Scandinavia, Aug. 6-20, $2,795; London to Paris, Aug. 21-Sept. 1, $2,295; Festive Alpine Tour, Sept. 16-30, $2,695.

Gadabout Tours: Based in Palm Springs with several other Southern California offices and one of the largest international travel programs. Part of its series includes Australia Rail Sampler, 23 days, $4,125, leaving Sept. 26; New Zealand Rail Sampler, 19 days, $3,679, leaving Oct. 18; a dozen European tours and cruises, including Grand Europe, 17 days, $2,699, leaving May 30; Orient Sampler (Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and one-day excursion into China), 13 days, $2,274, leaving Nov. 2. Plus cruises in the South Pacific, China and the Yangtze River and Far East Spice Islands, including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Giovanni Tours: An agency that features everything from pre-departure tours to after-tour reunions. London Theater and Countryside (several spring departure dates), eight days, $1,789; South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, March 30-April 18, $4,589; Grand Europe, two 23-day tours leaving June 27 or 29, $3,689; Heart of the Orient, 14 days, Sept. 9 to 21, $2,989; Scandinavia, 17 days, Sept. 20-Oct. 6, $1,589. Giovanni also has international cruises and several tours of the British Isles.

Variety of Choices

Great Western Travel: This senior specialist has a wide variety of domestic and Canadian tours and is a full-service agency representing all major tour companies. Offers tours to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany and Yugoslavia.

Taylor Tours and Cruises: Another full-service travel and tour agency and specialist in cruises for seniors. Now finishing details on an 18-day, eight-country tour of Europe leaving Sept. 2, $1,995.

Trieloff Tours: A wholesale tour operator with a wide variety of domestic, Mexican, Caribbean and Canadian tours and cruises. Offers several international tours for 1989, including Australia and New Zealand, 22 days, $4,299, departing April 8; England, Scotland and Ireland, 22 days, $2,530, departing July 15.

These tour operators sell to the general public and work with many senior organizations and clubs that offer international and domestic tours to their members. In addition, there are several fine tour operators, also members of STRAC, that deal only with senior tour groups.

Also, a variety of major tour wholesalers and special-interest tour operators cater to mature travelers. A few work through travel agencies; the others use direct mail and toll-free phone lines for information and reservations.

Working through travel agents are: Collette Tours, based in Pawtucket, R.I., with an extensive offering of escorted tours to Europe, Australia, Africa, China and other international destinations; Insight Tours, with an office in Irvine, specializing in motor-coach tours to Britain, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean; Love Holidays, which has widened its primarily Eastern Europe tour program to include Britain and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Morocco and South America; and a recent entry, Frames Rickards Tours, with escorted tours of Britain, Ireland and Europe.

The two major travel/study organizations appealing to mature travelers are Interhostel, which offers primarily an international program, and Elderhostel, which has some foreign destinations but a wider domestic program.

Finally there are the two biggest, AARP and Grand Circle. The American Assn. of Retired Persons has an outstanding program of tours and cruises, all sold direct by mail and phone.

Boston-based Grand Circle Travel has an ever-expanding series of international tours and cruises and is considered a leader in the mature travel field.

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For more information:

Richard Adams Tours, P.O. Box 1457, Glendora, Calif. 91740; (818) 963-4288.

Gadabout Tours, 700 E. Tahquitz Way, Palm Springs 92262; toll-free (800) 521-7309 or (800) 537-1623, within Southern California.

Giovanni Tours, 5308 Derry Ave., Suite F, Agoura Hills, Calif. 91301; (818) 889-3156.

Great Western Travel, 2814 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 2, Pasadena 91107; (818) 578-1161.

Taylor Tours and Cruises, 3171 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles 90039; (800) 233-2904 or (800) 282-4998.

Trieloff Tours, P.O. Box 2100, 23521 Paseo de Valencia, B-1, Laguna Hills 92653; (800) 432-7125.

Collette Tours, 124 Broad St., Pawtucket, R.I. 02860; through any travel agent or (800) 633-0038.

Insight International Tours, 17310 Redhill Ave., No. 330, Irvine 92714; (714) 261-5373.

Love Holidays, 15315 Magnolia Blvd., Sherman Oaks 91403; (818) 501-6868.

Frames Rickards Tours, c/o California Parlor Car Tours, 1101 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco 94109; (800) 331-9259.

Elderhostel, Suite 400, 80 Boylston St., Boston, Mass. 02116; (617) 426-7788.

Interhostel, University of New Hampshire, Division of Continuing Education, 24 Rosemary Lane, Durham, N.H. 03824; (603) 862-1147 (from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Eastern time).

Grand Circle Travel, 347 Congress St., Boston, Mass. 02210; (800) 221-2610.