{{Short description|American non-profit organization}} {{Distinguish|Rhodes Scholarship|Road Scholars|roads scholar}} {{advert|date=June 2011}} {{Infobox company | name = Road Scholar | former_name = Elderhostel | logo = Image:Road Scholar Logo.jpg | type = Corporate | foundation = {{start year and age|1975}} | location = Boston, Massachusetts | location_country = United States | num_employees = 270 | industry = Educational travel | homepage = {{url|roadscholar.org}} }}
'''Road Scholar''' (formerly Elderhostel) is an American not-for-profit organization that provides educational travel programs primarily geared toward older adults. The organization is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. From its founding in 1975 until 2010, Road Scholar was known as '''Elderhostel'''. Road Scholar offers study tours throughout the United States and Canada and in approximately 150 other countries.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Flinn|first1=John|title=Road Scholar: Former Elderhostel still about learning|url=http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Road-Scholar-Former-Elder-hostel-still-about-3655907.php|accessdate=2 June 2014|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=22 June 2012}}</ref>
==History== Elderhostel was founded in 1975 by friends Marty Knowlton, social activist and self-described hippie, and David Bianco, director of residential life at the University of New Hampshire. Knowlton rejected the ageist belief that one's mind must fail as one ages. After four years of backpacking through Europe and staying in hostels, Knowlton, then in his 50s, returned to the United States to direct the youth hostel program at the University of New Hampshire. There, he and Bianco, the university administrator, decided that society needed "elder hostels" in addition to youth hostels.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Nelson|first1=Valerie J.|title=Martin P. 'Marty' Knowlton dies at 88; co-founder of Elderhostel|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-marty-knowlton18-2009mar18-story.html|accessdate=2 June 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=18 March 2009}}</ref>
The program started in the summer of 1975, offering older adults noncredit classes and dormitory housing on campuses in New England<ref name="Travelers Wanted">{{cite news|last1=Greene|first1=Kelly|title=Travelers Wanted|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204563304574316862522747686|work=Wall Street Journal|date=19 September 2009}}</ref>—a sort of "summer school for retired people."<ref name="San Francisco Chronicle">{{cite news|last1=Flinn|first1=John|title=Road Scholar: Former Elderhostel still about learning|url=http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Road-Scholar-Former-Elderhostel-still-about-3655907.php#page-1|accessdate=2 June 2014|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=22 June 2012}}</ref> Elderhostel was officially established as a not-for-profit organization in 1977. Its program offerings expanded through the United States and Canada, and eventually internationally. By the 1990s, more than 200,000 people were learning with Elderhostel each year.<ref name="Travelers Wanted"/>
In 2010, Elderhostel changed its name to Road Scholar in order to appeal to the next wave of older travelers: Baby Boomers. CEO James Moses explained the name change to the ''San Francisco Chronicle'': "Hostel" no longer accurately described the lodging offered on the programs and "Baby Boomers, even when they're in their 60s, don't like to think of themselves as 'elders,{{'"}} he said.<ref name="San Francisco Chronicle"/> For a few months during 2010, the company was called Exploritas before changing its name to Road Scholar because they were sued for infringing on the name.<ref>{{cite web |title=Explorica, Inc. v. Elderhostel, Inc. d/b/a Exploritas |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-mad-1_09-cv-11719 |access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>
==See also== *Topdeck *Belmond Ltd.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.roadscholar.org/ Official website]
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Category:Adult education in the United States Category:Non-profit organizations based in Boston Category:Organizations established in 1975 Category:Seniors' organizations Category:Travel and holiday companies of the United States Category:Lifelong learning Category:1975 establishments in New Hampshire