The Silent Generation, baby boomers and Generations X, Y and Z are all cohorts of generations who are often distinguished between in terms of different attributes. The approximate years of birth of these cohorts are as follows: Silent Generation: 1929-1945 Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 Generation X: 1965-1981 Generation Y (Millennials): 1982-2003 Generation Z: 2003-? The Silent Generation refers to the cohort that was born during the Great Depression and World War II. Its characteristics include being quite serious, conventional and sometimes with confused morals, and for women especially a desire for marriage and a family. The baby boomers saw a marked rise in prosperity in relation to this previous cohort and witnessed the mass communications era of the television and especially a loosening of morals and standards of public and private behavior. This was also an era of liberalization and exploration in the arts but also one of stable jobs. Generation X is characterized by more variety, individualism, hedonism and freedom. Generation Y grew up in a somewhat different world than that of Generation X as neoliberal ideologies spread across the world. Generation Z is sometimes called the 'net generation' or 'wired generation' with easy familiarity with and adoption of communications and media technologies such as the Internet, Google, instant and text messaging, MP3 formats, mobile phones, Facebook and pocket devices. Benckendorff et al. (2010) offer a comprehensive analysis of Generation Y in their book Tourism and Generation Y and identify the following travel characteristics of this cohort: They travel more often. They explore more destinations. They spend more on travel. They book more over the Internet. They are experience hungry. They are information hungry. They are intrepid travelers. They get a lot out of their travel. For your response prompt, briefly discuss the following: Do you agree with Benckendorff et al. analysis on Gen Y's travel characteristics? Why or why not? What predictions do you have for Generation Z and their travel characteristics? Why do you think an ageing population may lead to a competitive disadvantage, and which countries are likely to be affected by this? Based on the information presented in this assignment, if you were to invest in a type of tourism right now, which one would you invest in and why?