At the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, we have always offered programmes to older adults, but we wanted to do more to specifically appeal to them so we started an advisory board made up of people aged from 61 to 94.

We asked them to try out a selection of our programmes, courses and workshops, both at the museum and online, to establish what was missing and what more we could do to meet their needs.

Firstly, we found out that they liked the idea of being with people their own age, and slightly younger. They also liked having their peers and cohorts in charge.

They also wanted an invitation: it wasn’t enough to offer a discount, they wanted a warm welcome to feel like they were really included and they wanted opportunities to learn and develop skills regarding art and print.

We started a film programme as a consequence of the feedback, as lots of them wanted to delve more deeply into our film collection.

MoMA did a lot of training in communication techniques, with both front-of-house and back-of-house staff, to make sure that they all really understood this age group and would be able to provide a positive experience.

Opportunities were created for grandparents to come with their grandchildren, to look at art and create art, but also to come on their own, or with their own peers. It’s interesting that our 94-year-old board member says that she spent her grown-up life coming with her children and then her grandson, but now she feels like the museum is hers and that’s important to her.

We ran a free day for the over-65s in May, offering extra programmes and workshops and a discount in the restaurant. When promoting this we had to think carefully about the media channels that age group uses, and also to reflect that age group in the marketing itself.

It’s been a wonderful experience for me and my team to work with older adults. We’ve learned so much from their rich and interesting lives, such as fascinating stories of migration.

@francescatime

We’ve found the over-65s to be a golden generation: they’re a nice audience with good spending power.

Our overall philosophy and strategy at Europa Park is to try to suit all ages. Three generations of the Mack family live at the park and they want to experience things together. That’s reflected in the park because we create rides and experiences which grandparents and grandchildren can do together. This includes gentle scenic rides and the monorail, but also our new addition by Mack Rides last year, Arthur and the Minimoys Kingdom, a dark ride/coaster combination.

At Europa Park, we’re not looking to build the fastest or highest rollercoasters, but to create a great family experience. For example, the latest 4D movie, The Time Carousel, has been pitched not to be too fast. We have also strengthened the areas of the park which are of particular interest to older people. In the Castle Park area we have paid great attention to the gardening and landscaping to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere for older guests to get away from the noise and action.

Europa Park turns 40 this year, so our original guests are now coming with their own grandchildren. We aim to appeal to them with quiet spots, a variety of restaurants, family rides, entertaining shows and high-quality hotels, with golf and wellness offers.

We’re also the only theme park in the world with a two-Michelin-starred restaurant. The main reason for creating this was to reach out to new audiences who don’t just want burgers and pizza, and who might be attracted by the restaurant and then visit the theme park as well.

In order to attract this audience, we work hard to put together appealing special offers and then take these to trade shows and work with magazines read by this particular demographic.

We have found that this audience interacts with the park differently: they have more patience, so are happy to sit down at a high-quality service restaurant. They also like to stroll and appreciate the landscaping. Going forwards we will continue to come up with attractions which appeal to the broadest audience possible.

@europa_park

To be sustainable in the future, the attractions industry needs to produce something for this market. At the Jamtli Foundation, a museum and heritage organisation in Ostersund, Sweden, we started looking at this area about 10 years ago and we implemented three new strategies which have all been very successful.

Firstly, we recruited a number of older volunteer staff. They take evident pride in their work and produce a fantastic atmosphere. It makes visitors feel more comfortable when they see staff from their age group. Another advantage of using older volunteers is that we’ve been able to use their memories as a resource: for example, they can look through old photos of the town and identify people and locations.

We’ve also made an effort to ensure the content of the museum tells the stories which our older visitors recognise. They want to be part of the story. For example, between the 1950s and 1970s there was a Swedish policy of moving older people out of the countryside and into purpose-built towns in order to be near their offspring. We’ve recreated these environments and we recruit over-65 actors to bring the stories to life. We plan to create more environments which show how older adults live.

Another successful initiative has been inviting groups of dementia sufferers into the museum. We have a problem in Sweden with under-70s suffering from dementia.

The state gives their carers eight hours a week of free time and part of this time when carers are taking a break is being used to take the sufferers on a trip to our museum. We created the environment of a 1970s house, which can be used to jog their memories of happy, younger years. This has had very good results and been engaging for them. They are very calm and happy in this environment and it is a cost-effective intervention for the municipality. We’re giving back to society, which is good for our branding, and as we are paid by the municipality it has become another income stream, which is useful in low season.

Furthermore, we’re always working on making our museum accessible to everyone.

www.jamtli.com

While they won’t admit it, many attractions, and other industries, don’t want to be associated with this demographic because they think other target groups will be turned off by the association.

One supermarket chain started building supermarkets around the needs of older people, but they were reluctant to talk about it. They then incorporated the design features – wider aisles, larger font on signage – into their general stores, which benefited everyone.

It’s time for the attractions industry to make a few changes and get over the fear of being portrayed as an “old person’s park”. This age group cannot be ignored. Older consumers are spending more and will continue to do so. They make decisions on behalf of their children and grandchildren and they pay for the day out.

Implementing changes to make attractions more welcoming for older people will benefit all users. Older people are a diverse group and as such there isn’t going to be a model which works for all, but many older people will want the same as younger people: plenty of clean toilets, good access, good signage, shade, benches (ideally with backs on) and water stations.

We’re already starting to see some attractions operating more upscale restaurants and these can be especially appealing to older people and multi-generation groups. You can offer food at different price points. Some older customers will be happy to pay £40 ($61, €56) for a good lunch. Nice cafés, where grandparents can have a coffee while watching the kids, should also be on the list.

If theme parks want repeat visits from older people they also need something to engage them. They don’t necessarily need rides made for them, but family rides should be fully accessible. Larger attractions should consider providing mobility scooters to help older people to get around.

We can look to places like Las Vegas and Benidorm, which are – unofficially – becoming age-friendly resorts, where older people are met at the airport, offered a range of mobility options and where all restaurants are wheelchair accessible. Older people are comfortable there, so they stay longer and spend more.

@ILCUK