Tourism has spent decades obsessing over what travellers can do.
Perhaps it should start thinking more about where they can sit.
Build another museum. Open another Michelin-starred restaurant. Create another rooftop bar. Add immersive experiences, cycling routes, observation decks and walking tours.
Then send visitors out into a city where there isn’t a bench for six blocks, the nearest public toilet is hidden inside a shopping centre, the subway station has three flights of stairs and the restaurant menu requires reading a QR code in direct sunlight.
There is a growing mismatch between the traveller tourism is designing for and the traveller who is actually travelling.
The world’s population is getting older.
By 2050, the number of people aged 65 and older is projected to exceed 1.6 billion. In Europe and North America, roughly one person in four could be over 65.
And these aren’t necessarily people staying home.
They are travelling.
In the United States, nearly two-thirds of travellers aged 50 and older expect to travel in 2026. Travel is one of their highest discretionary spending priorities, and they expect to take nearly four trips this year.
This isn’t a niche market.
It is a demographic transformation.
Yet much of modern tourism still seems designed for a healthy 32-year-old carrying a smartphone with unlimited data and perfectly functioning knees.
That may have to change.
Welcome to the 25,000-Step Vacation
Modern city tourism can be surprisingly physical.
A typical sightseeing day might involve walking kilometres across cobblestones, standing in museum lines, climbing stairs in historic buildings, navigating enormous railway stations, boarding crowded buses and spending hours without knowing where the next public toilet is located.
Your phone tells you the restaurant is only 900 metres away.
What it doesn’t mention is that 900 metres includes a hill, two pedestrian overpasses and a final flight of stairs.
For younger travellers, that’s often an inconvenience.
For someone with reduced mobility, arthritis, balance problems or simply a 78-year-old pair of knees, it can determine whether the restaurant gets visited at all.
Older travellers are not necessarily asking destinations to become less interesting.
They’re asking them to become easier to experience.
And that distinction matters.
The Most Valuable Attraction Might Be a Bench
The World Health Organization has been studying what makes cities friendly to older populations for years.
The answers are remarkably unglamorous.
Good sidewalks.
Places to sit.
Accessible public transport.
Elevators.
Clear signage.
Safe pedestrian crossings.
Public toilets.
Buildings without unnecessary barriers.
Information that’s easy to understand.
Human beings available to help.
None of those things will appear on a tourism billboard.
Perhaps they should.
Because the same infrastructure that makes a city easier for an 80-year-old traveller also makes it easier for almost everyone else.
A bench helps the pregnant traveller.
An elevator helps the parent pushing a stroller.
Clear signage helps someone who doesn’t speak the language.
A public toilet helps everybody.
A smooth sidewalk helps someone pulling a suitcase.
Shade helps the entire city.
Accessibility may be one of those rare tourism investments where designing for the people who need the most assistance actually improves the destination for everyone.
The QR Code Has Entered the Chat
Not all barriers involve stairs.
Tourism’s rush toward digital convenience has created another problem.
Restaurants replaced menus with QR codes.
Hotels replaced reception desks with apps.
Airlines moved boarding passes onto phones.
Museums adopted online ticketing.
Attractions introduced timed entry systems.
Transit networks built digital payment systems.
Done well, these technologies are terrific.
Done badly, they can turn ordering lunch into an IT project.
The assumption is increasingly that every traveller owns a relatively new smartphone, has international data, understands the local payment system, can easily read a small screen and is comfortable entering credit-card details into unfamiliar websites.
That isn’t always true.
And age doesn’t necessarily mean technological incompetence. In fact, older travellers are adopting travel technology surprisingly quickly. Use of artificial intelligence for travel planning among American travellers over 50 doubled over the past year.
The point isn’t that older travellers can’t use technology.
It’s that they should have a choice.
There is a world of difference between offering a digital option and making a digital option the only option.
Sometimes a traveller simply wants to walk up to another human being and say:
Two tickets, please.
That shouldn’t feel revolutionary.
The Silver Traveller Isn’t Sitting at Home
There is another stereotype tourism may need to retire.
Older traveller does not automatically mean frail traveller.
Today’s 60-year-old might be hiking in Bhutan.
A 70-year-old might be exploring Tokyo.
Someone celebrating their 80th birthday might be taking the family to Italy.
People are living longer, remaining active longer and travelling later in life.
Even among travellers who require accommodations for a disability or health condition, research suggests that these needs often change how they travel rather than whether they travel.
That’s important.
Someone who doesn’t want to walk six kilometres between attractions may happily spend three weeks exploring a country.
A traveller who avoids hotels without elevators may still book an expensive suite.
Someone who finds a sprawling airport exhausting may happily fly business class halfway around the world.
Physical limitations don’t necessarily eliminate the desire to travel.
They change the purchasing decision.
And suddenly accessibility isn’t simply a social responsibility.
It’s competitive advantage.
Hotels May Figure This Out First
Luxury hospitality has traditionally associated good service with abundance.
More marble.
More pillows.
More elaborate bathrooms.
More things waiting on the bedside table.
But for an ageing traveller, luxury can become much simpler.
A walk-in shower.
A room near the elevator.
Good lighting.
A comfortable chair.
Electrical outlets that don’t require crawling underneath the desk.
A bathroom floor that doesn’t become an ice rink when wet.
A phone number where someone actually answers.
Restaurants nearby.
A car that can collect you at the door.
And perhaps most importantly, staff trained to provide assistance without turning it into a production.
None of this feels particularly glamorous.
Until you need it.
Then it feels extremely luxurious.
Cities Could Compete on Ease
Imagine if tourism rankings began measuring something different.
Not just the number of museums.
How many places can you sit?
Not just the quality of restaurants.
How easy is it to find a toilet?
Not simply whether public transit exists.
Can someone with a suitcase or limited mobility actually use it?
How far apart are attractions?
How long are pedestrian crossings?
Are major tourist areas shaded?
Are signs readable?
Can you buy a ticket without downloading an app?
Can you reach the historic centre without climbing 87 medieval stairs?
Suddenly some destinations start looking very different.
The city that photographs beautifully may not necessarily be the city that travels beautifully.
And as travellers age, that distinction could become increasingly important.
This Isn’t Really About Old People
That’s perhaps the most important point.
Age-friendly tourism isn’t about turning cities into retirement homes.
It is about recognizing that the human body has limits.
Even a healthy 35-year-old eventually wants somewhere to sit.
Parents travelling with children appreciate toilets.
People carrying shopping bags appreciate elevators.
Travellers arriving after a 12-hour flight appreciate clear signs.
Everyone enjoys a city that is easy to navigate.
Good tourism design is often simply good urban design.
The cities that understand that may have an enormous advantage as the global travel population gets older.
Because the tourism industry has spent years trying to create more reasons for us to visit.
More restaurants.
More attractions.
More festivals.
More experiences.
The next competition may be simpler.
Make those experiences easier to enjoy.
The world’s next great tourism city might not be the one with the newest landmark or the hottest restaurant.
It might simply be the one that finally gives you somewhere to sit down.
