It’s official: The population bubble is coming
		The sweet scent of travel
		ISM Launches TravelTweets100

We are all fat now

Fair-trade-food vacations nourish appetites for adventure

Rite Aid speaks in tongues

It’s official: The population bubble is coming

We’ve all known it’s coming, but the U.S. Census Bureau just made it official: The number of Americans age 65 and older is projected to increase 40% by 2014. By 2050, the 65+ population will have doubled in the U.S., jumping from 39 million today to 89 million. That same year, Matures will leapfrog over the projected under-15 demo of 85 million kids. Worldwide, the 65+ population is expected to triple by mid-century, when there will be five times as many people age 85 and older than there are today. Projections aren’t infallible, but barring massive natural or manmade disasters, grands are on track to outnumber their great-grandkids. ISM views that as a massive demographic shift. As the 65+ population soars, so will demand for businesses and services that cater to older Americans, from basics like healthcare and assistive technology to optional extras like senior-friendly travel packages. When grands surpass teens will Hollywood still cater to the kids? Stay tuned.

Cosmetic company Guerlain has introduced Les Voyages Olfactifs, a line of three scents for women inspired by cities around the world. Paris-Moscou (Moscow) packs in jasmine, wood, lemon and white musk. A vanilla, cardamom, cedar cinnamon and bergamot combo make up Paris-New York, while Tokyo blends delicate notes of violet, jasmine and green tea. Bond no. 9 already has a full line of fragrances inspired by New York’s upper, middle, downtown and beach areas. From light, floral scents of Park Avenue to cool, zesty and androgynous notes on Wall Street, each bottle has a unique look to match its NYC attitude. For beauty buffs who want to remember a place or perhaps preview it, virtual travel through a sensory experience may be the next best thing.

Adding further to the sensory possibilities, ISM has been following Japanese telecommunications giant NTT which has developed i-Aroma, fragrances that travel over the web. By plugging a diffuser with six base oils into a computer’s USB port, users can receive a coded aroma message that is then translated into fragrance and emitted at a user’s computer. E-romas could be used for sampling, for scenting the computer environment or formulating a custom fragrance. i-Aroma is set to launch this fall. NTT is also said to be working on a scent-emitting cell phone.

ISM has assembled the world’s first curated collection of influential travel resources on Twitter and has assembled them into a single display at http://traveltweets100.com that features the latest tweets from all 100 contributors, along with their Twitter profiles. Among those featured are travelers, writers, connoisseurs, industry leaders and marketing experts, varying from well-known personalities to hidden gems and in-the-know travel enthusiasts. Featured Tweeters include journalist and travel expert Peter Greenberg (@PeterSGreenberg); Barney Harford, CEO of Orbitz (@barneyh); Robert Reid, Travel Editor for Lonely Planet (@reidontravel); Henry Harteveldt, leading industry analyst at Forrester Research (@hharteveldt); and Nancy Novogrod, Editor-in-Chief at Travel + Leisure (@nnovogro).

The beauty of the site is its singular focus on travel, allowing you to find the commentary on the subject of travel without being interrupted by irrelevant Tweets. ISM plans to regularly update the top 100 list to continue to recognize leading contributors within the travel space on Twitter and encourages visitors to the TravelTweets100 website to make future recommendations.

The economy continues cascading. Unemployment’s ugly, retail sales are rank, the housing market is still homely. But there’s one reliable metric in America; one number that, year over year, keeps right on growing—our waist size. Lost, as our attention focuses on more immediate events, is an unsettling phenomenon that isn’t new, but isn’t going away, either: the fact that we’re still fat.

According to statistics released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26% of adults in the U.S. were obese in 2008. Not only is that national number higher than in 2007, obesity is holding steady or growing in each and every state of the union.

Five or more years ago, the “globesity” epidemic was on many lips as experts pondered the effects on our health foremost, but also contemplated what a larger populace would mean to society at large. Beyond healthcare and food, what does a spreading population mean to how we travel, how we work, how we play? Seven years later the conversation has slowed, but our growth hasn’t.

From ISM’s perspective, the future holds some tasty nuggets of possibility. Might morphing cultural factors finally cut into our collective growth? Would a long-term shift in our broader consumer culture mean we not only buy less, but eat less, too? Might finally adding to our savings accounts correspond to a greater investment in our health? Our path out of this recession may eventually be tied with our long-term physical health. Or maybe this is just the way things are—the big, new normal.

Remember when vacation meant a cross-country drive to Wally World? Not anymore. Travelers are saving sea turtles, hiking volcanoes and going to culinary school. Now, there’s a new eco-educational pursuit to add to the list: fair-trade tourism (GreenLAGirl.com 6.27.09). Fair-trade olive oil is the focus of the Fair Olive Harvest Reality tour, a jaunt through Israel and Palestine to explore “connections between peace, economic and environmental justice.” Whoa. Chocolate lovers learn all about the beloved cacao bean in Belize on a tour sponsored by Sustainable Harvest International. On the itinerary: planting trees and building wood-conserving stoves. In Chiapas, Mexico, fair-trade coffee company Higher Grounds Trading offers a Harvest Tour that includes visits with coffee co-ops and traditional healers. Chocolate, coffee and olive oil: Is there a person alive who doesn’t love at least one on this list? ISM believes Fair-trade-food vacations hit the perfect trifecta for adventurous travelers who want to indulge their passions, enrich their lives and support socially conscious practices. One too many staycations? When frazzled, vacation-deprived consumers do take a break, they really want to get lost.

In an effort to clearly communicate drug instructions, uses and warnings, Rite Aid pharmacies partnered with Language Line Services to provide telephone consultation in 175 languages. Rite Aid already offered printed prescription information in 11 languages. This is the first pharmacy program in the country to provide interpretation in virtually all languages spoken in the U.S. The service answers a need: 24 million people in the U.S. require language support and 1.2 million Rite Aid customers get written information in a language other than English. Language Line employees are trained in medical terminology so crucial information isn’t lost in translation. ISM believes a company that walks the walk and talks the talk of its diverse clientele speaks the language of customer appreciation.

© 2009 ISM and Iconoculture, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published monthly by ISM in partnership with Iconoculture.