Over-55 Trends

Forward Travel is an Australian-owned tour operator specialising in off-the-beaten-path destinations. Their itineraries are designed for travellers who’ve ticked off the major landmarks and are ready for something different — experiences that are immersive, culturally rich, and often far from the tourist trail.

Catering primarily to seasoned, well-travelled Australians, Forward Travel focuses on journeys that go deeper than guidebook highlights, often into regions most tour companies won’t touch.

Forward Travel lacked visibility among its target audience — individuals over the age of 55, a demographic that values culturally rich, low-crowd destinations over traditional tourist circuits.

Alongside strengthening its presence, they also wanted to attract backlinks from reputable outlets and get recognised by media as experts on mature-age travel trends.

The goal was clear:

• Backlinks pointing directly to a new Over-55s Travel Report
• Coverage in over-55s and general travel publications to get in front of their true audience

The challenge was to create a piece of content that would shift Forward Travel from “unknown” to a “trusted authority” among older, well-heeled Australian travellers.

We decided to give the media something the industry hadn’t seen: a data-rich analysis of global travel trends among Australians aged 55+.

1. Building the Over-55s Travel Report

UR Digital produced a two-part report titled: Global Destinations Gaining and Losing Popularity Among Over-55 Australian Travellers.

We analysed how travel preferences had shifted pre- vs post-pandemic, using a wide range of data sources, including:

• Australian Government Department of Home Affairs: Overseas Arrivals & Departures (2018–19 vs 2022–23)
• Smartraveller advisories
• World Bank political stability indicators
• UNESCO World Heritage site counts
• Global crime and safety indices
• WHO health and infrastructure data
• Biodiversity metrics, among others.

The goal was to give journalists a complete, research-driven story on why some destinations were rising in popularity (e.g., Maldives, Saudi Arabia), while others were declining (e.g., USA, China).

2. Clear, compelling narrative angles

The report answered questions the media cared about, such as:

• Why are some countries gaining traction with over-55 Australians?
• What are this demographic’s biggest travel deal-breakers?
• How do biodiversity, safety, climate, and political stability influence destination choice?

This made the report instantly attractive to travel, lifestyle, and over-55s publications.

3. Strategic digital PR targeting

We distributed the report with a press release that included direct backlinks, and pitched it specifically to:

• Over-55s media
• Travel industry publishers
• General news outlets
• Radio hosts
• Lifestyle journalists

The digital PR campaign was designed to not only earn coverage but also position Forward Travel as the go-to voice on mature-age travel trends.

The campaign transformed Forward Travel’s visibility in Australia — and positioned founder David Smyth as a leading commentator in a space where the brand had previously been invisible.

Headline Outcomes

• 40+ publications picked up the story, including The Senior, Women’s Weekly, The Courier Mail, Explore Travel, Canberra Times, The Newcastle Herald, Travel Talk and more.
• Direct backlinks were secured from multiple outlets, pointing to the Over-55s Travel Report as the core resource.
• Major press doors opened — Forward Travel gained coverage from outlets they had never been able to access before, including Travel Daily and com.au.

Media momentum & follow-up requests

The story triggered multiple journalist follow-ups, especially around the “Surprising Travel Hotspots” and “Over-55 Travel Trends” angles.

This led to:

• National radio interviews
• International coverage
• David Smyth being invited as a regular contributor on TableTalk – Sonshine FM
• Forward Travel becoming a go-to source for publishers like The Senior and Solo Traveller