'Silver' tourists may become travel goldmine

Senior travelers get a rough deal from travel agencies, who believe the low profits they generate aren't worth the efforts required to make them. However, as China becomes an increasingly aging society, the tide may be turning for older travelers, as Su Zhou reports.

Since she retired four years ago, Chen Ying, 59, has been bitten by the travel bug.

The last trip the former physician made was at the end of April, when she visited Yunnan province in Southwest China. The 10-day jaunt included trips to Kunming, Lijiang, Dali and the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, but it only cost 800 yuan ($125). "I saw the advertisement at the travel agency near my home, and I thought it was a good bargain," said Chen, from Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province.