SCMP - Hong KongToday, 3:12 AM
Hong Kong's "silver economy" that taps elderly spending is worth HK$50 billion a year and growing but too few businesses are wooing this market, says the organiser of a recently concluded fair for the elderly.
The likes of travel agencies and banks were now pioneering products targeting the elderly, but not enough companies were willing to bet on the fast-expanding silver-hair market, said Wilson Tong, fairs director of Vertico Expo Services and organiser of the Retiree and Senior Fair.
According to the company's market research, Hongkongers over the age of 65 spend around HK$50,000 to HK$70,000 a year outside of their daily needs and rent. With around a million Hongkongers over the age of 65, the market valued at around HK$50 billion was only set to grow, said Tong.
Given that the number of elderly will double in the next decade to 29 per cent of the population, Tong said: "There is a huge market here. The need for products and services for the specific needs of older people is only growing, but the supply is unable to keep up - both qualitatively and quantitatively."
Some 73,000 visitors attended the three-day fair Vertico organised at the beginning of this month. This was a big jump from the 4,000 visitors when it first started in 2009.
Among those taking up the challenge of catering to the market is travel agency Morning Star. Its marketing director, Wilson Yeung Chun-bong, said the agency launched a series of tours tailor-made for older people last year, with lower prices, a less packed itinerary, and an emphasis on quality food and accommodation.
"We launched the series at last year's senior fair, and have been receiving decent feedback," said Yeung, adding that many organisations like homes and centres for the elderly and NGOs booked their age-specific itineraries.
"It's often the little things and a slower pace," he said. "We also tend to mark the prices down for them, as a way of showing respect to a generation who have given much to building Hong Kong."
These itineraries - usually to the mainland or around Southeast Asia - catered to older travellers' slower speed, said Yeung. More pit-stops and bathroom breaks are built into bus travel, and more experienced guides are chosen to lead these tours, often armed with hiking sticks and other equipment.
Fair organiser Tong said in financial services, many banks were starting to put in service counters specifically for elderly customers, and some were developing financial plans and packages for retirees.
One factor hindering faster growth in the private sector was a lack of market and consumer data, Elderly Commission vice-chairman Dr Lam Ching-choi said.
"There is very little research and data on elderly services or elderly spending patterns for the private sector to look at," said Lam.
"What are the spending patterns of the baby boomer generation who are now stepping into their 60s? What assets do they have? Simple research could paint a better picture and help both companies and investors."
The government does not have statistics on Hong Kong's silver economy.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1838545/hong-kong-businesses-urged-woo-growing-elderly-market
