Boomers and Vacations with a Purpose

"Voluntourism" is another trend we've talked about for some time (we profiled Habitat for Humanity's Global Village trips program back in 2005) that's really taking off are vacations where you can volunteer and do something to benefit the local community. "Voluntourism" even has its own Web site.

You know it is a trend with legs now that Ritz-Carlton has gotten into the act with their Give Back Getaways program.

Once more, Springwise spotters write about it here.

Booming Business around the Globe

Some time back we pointed the readers of our Boomer Project free newsletter, Jumpin' Jack Flash, to the Trendwatching Web site and newsletter.

Trendwatching searches the globe for the latest trends and reports on what they find bi-weekly, monthly and in an annual report.

This week they share a mini-report on Booming Business around the globe.

It's a good summary of what is happening right now on the Boomer front.

(We'll give them a pass for not contacting us directly for some insights, only because several of our subscribers are listed as contributors to the report. So we know we were a source nonetheless -- especially since we wrote about several of their recent "finds" over the months and years.)

Power of Prescriptions

Walgreen's recently announced their quarterly earnings and reported that prescription sales lifted their profits 20%.

We wrote about the resiliency the major drug store chains have had in defending their turf against Wal-Mart in last month's BoomerMarketingNews, our paid newsletter.

In that piece we shared findings from the BIGresearch Consumer Intentions & Actions study from April 2007, that showed how traditional national chains were preferred for prescription drugs three to one over Wal-Mart.

Our point is that Boomers (and other consumers) will pay for "trusted advice." We expect to see more of it in other retail categories as a way to beat back Wal-Mart (witness Best Buy's dedicated appliance expert on duty in every store and even online).

This is a trend to watch, especially with Boomers growing older -- as Walgreen's CEO noted: "The growth opportunity we have ahead of is exciting," said Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey A. Rein. "With the first of 78 million Baby Boomers turning 65 in 2011, the demand for pharmacy services will get bigger and bigger," he predicted.

Yet another trend to watch.