Taiwan's travel industry targets lonely seniors  

台湾“寂寞旅游”兴起 老妇一年跟团旅游13次

(ECNS) -- Taiwan's travel industry plans to open tourist programs specifically for seniors, who often travel to meet friends and fight loneliness, the Taiwan-based United Daily News reports.

Huang Xinfa, general manager of Lion Travel in Taiwan, said a senior woman has participated in their one-day tour 13 times. "Her kids are not in Taiwan and she has no one to talk to," Huang added.

Su Chengtian, head of the College of Tourism at Chung Hua University, said 11 percent of Taiwan's population is over the age of 65. That number is expected to reach 40 percent by 2060.

The group will mainly be clients during weekdays, Su added.

Zhu Zhuoren, honorable head of the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said the spa treatments in Taiwan will be a selling point for seniors.

Taiwan's Tourism Bureau said the region will try to lure more seniors from the Chinese mainland, Japan and South Korea.