Holiday Retirement: marketing helps incentive program boost participation

Thinking outside the box. That phrase characterizes the innovative marketing and planning behind an annual exercise incentive program offered by Holiday Retirement Corp., a leading owner and operator of independent-living retirement facilities.

Holiday considers physical fitness critical to keeping its more than 34,000 residents healthy, happy and independent. The Salem, Oregon-based company provides an activity director, as well as exercise classes and age-friendly exercise equipment, at nearly all of its 285 communities. Some properties also feature fitness trails and swimming pools. Despite these services and amenities, Holiday faces that challenge shared by most aging organizations: how to increase physical activity participation by older adults.