TORONTO —Forget beach holidays and sightseeing. Baby boomers in Canada, Australia and Britain are leading a trend for adventure and educational vacations, according to a new travel survey.

"A lot of people have been there and done that," Dale Urquhart, of BCAA Travel, a chapter of the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) in Vancouver, told Reuters.

"People are looking for more of an experience when they travel as opposed to a ‘fly and flop’ sort of holiday."

Demand for trips specializing in adventure, education, health/spa and culinary experiences have increased over the past year, according to 103 travel experts surveyed by BCAA.

Urquhart said companies she deals with have reported growth in Australian and British travelers seeking adventure trips.

"It’s the stuff they can tell their friends about," said Urquhart, adding adventure vacations are drawing women, honeymooners, families and people over 50.

"The Boomers are the ones who can afford to take their families on these vacations," Urquhart added.

University-educated professionals want trips that allow them to learn a skill, sport or other interest. Australians are booking trips to tour Europe’s opera houses and the gardens of Britain.

People looking for rest and relaxation who don’t want to gain weight are opting for health and spa trips. Culinary travel is also growing in popularity. Urquhart said chefs are brought in to rented Italian villas or European riverboats to teach travelers how to shop locally and cook.

She said more people are traveling alone, especially women, but group trips are also on the rise.

"People want to do something memorable, so traveling as a group together to go somewhere is how they’re building their memories, for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries," Urquhart said.

Volunteer travel is still a small niche, she added, but more and more people are interested in building schools and helping at wildlife reserves.

"If you’re working and you want to stress-down, a beach vacation definitely makes sense," said Chris Ronneseth, of Trek Holidays based in Edmonton, Alberta.

"But when you’ve stopped working as much, or you have a lot of vacation time and you haven’t done a lot of travel, sometimes the more experiential things can be more what you’re looking for."

Ronneseth said Baby Boomers helped drive 2007 bookings up by 30 percent, with popular adventure destinations such as Africa, Peru and Nepal. —Reuters