The typical tourist in Asia used to be a young backpacker in need of a shower, but these days there are just as many older and retired people roaming the continent seeking its secrets.

With money and time to spare, the new breed of western visitor is hitting the road in India, China and elsewhere, armed with an adventurous spirit, an inexhaustible thirst for knowledge and a keen eye for a decent mattress.

“This is a major growing sector for us,” said Karan Anand, an executive at New Delhi-based tour company Cox and King’s.

“Older people with their pension sorted out often plan their lives around a yearly holiday to interesting places.”

Mr Anand said tourists aged over 55 have different priorities to younger travellers, rejecting the beaches of Goa for an itinerary focused on local culture and historic hotels converted from former princely palaces. Comparable data is scarce but 103,000 British residents aged between 55 and 64 travelled to India in 2009, and 51,000 went to China, according to the Office for National Statistics.

“I started my company to take young professionals abroad for adventurous holidays, but then realised I was getting lots of calls from their parents,” said Tom Barber, owner of London-based Original Travel.

At Humayun’s Tomb, a popular attraction in New Delhi, Giselle Deuve, 81, from France was exploring with a guide provided by her tour company.

“I always travel alone and this is my second time in India,” she said. “Since I’ve retired, I’ve been to China twice, and Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bali. It is fantastic to see new things.”

Travel sector professionals point out that improving food and hygiene standards at hotels across Asia have reduced the “fear factor” among senior tourists.

“India is no longer a basket-case country and that helps,” said Jamshyd Sethna, owner of Shakti Himalaya, a company that takes guests to isolated luxury lodges in the mountains and to remote villages in Sikkim and Ladhakh.