Pensioners' holiday spending power 'underestimated'
The spending power of the over-65s is being underestimated by the hospitality and leisure sector, a report says.
Only 5% of businesses asked by Barclays saw this age group as their priority target for sales and revenue.
Yet a third saw 34 to 44-year-olds as their most important potential customers, despite them spending less.
The report comes shortly after changes in the pension system came into force, allowing retirees the option to cash in their defined contribution pension pot.
The Barclays report suggested that 76% of businesses in the sector had no plans to introduce products and services to specifically target the over 65s.
"There appears to be a gulf between the perception and reality of the spending power of the over 65s," said Mike Saul, of Barclays.