Senior Tourism: a Growing Global Market

The United Nations has recognised the fact that the older generation are growing at a rapid rate, and have estimated that over two billion people will be aged 60 years and over by the year 2050. This will account for 22 % (or one out of five) of the world’s population, compared to only 10 % in 2000, and this demographic shift will be seen across all continents. This is expected to occur in all advanced economies. For example, by 2030, the European Union will have 34.7 million citizens aged over 60 compared to 18.8 million today. Japan has presently the world’s highest proportion of elderly people with 26 % (in 2014) of the population over the age of 65 (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/23878). By 2050 that figure is expected to rise to around 40 % (Hudson 2010). Kazeminia et al. (2015) concluded that, “By 2030, 55 countries are expected to see their 65 years and older populations grow to at least 20 % of their present total,” and by 2050, Europe will continue to be the world’s oldest region with its senior population increasing more than fivefold, from 40 million to 219 million”(http://transgenerational.org/aging/demographics.htm).

These studies have resulted in an increasing awareness among academic and business communities about the growing power of the senior (or silver) market, the population segment whose growing size is aided by demographic trends (Nimrod 2008). This not a European trend but a global driver force (Theobald 2005) because population aging has become an increasingly critical issue for governments in developed countries (Chen et al. 2013) as a result of increased life expectancy. No country in the world can hide from the (inevitable) greying of its population (Leeson 2002).

As a direct consequence of these global ageing patterns, senior travelers are increasingly accounting for a larger share of all vacation spending globally (Littrell et al. 2004; Wang et al. 2007; Sangpikul 2008). In 1999, over 593 million international travellers were aged 60 years and over. This level of tourism activity accounted for approximately a third of the total amount spent on holidays in that year. By 2050 this figure is projected to grow to exceed two billion trips per annum (World Tourism Organisation 2001). The senior segment is now becoming the ‘growth engine’ of the tourism industry (Hunter-Jones and Blackburn 2007; Schröder and Widmann 2007; Alén et al. 2014). It is not surprising that the tourism industry has begun to recognize the potential of this market, and a growing body of research has explored various aspects of senior needs and expectations, mostly over the past two decades (Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Nimrod 2008; Nyaupane et al. 2008; Sedgley et al. 2011; Kazeminia et al. 2015).

The increasing attention to this market is a worldwide phenomenon (Sellick 2004; Jang and Wu 2006). In terms of its market potential, seniors will soon become one of the largest prospective market segments for the hospitality and travel industries, industries contributing significantly to the leisure sector (Pederson 1994; Horneman et al. 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003; Reece 2004; Jang and Wu 2006; Prayag 2012). These future population projections suggest that becoming older does not necessarily restrict people’s desire to travel; in fact the opposite is occurring and will also represent a great impact to the tourism industry (Reece 2004; Möller et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2007; Nimrod 2008; Boksberger and Laesser 2008; Chen and Wu 2009; Patterson and Pegg 2009; Alén et al. 2010; Acevedo 2011; Esichaikul 2012; Major and McLeay 2013b).

Seniors are not only more numerous; they are also more frequent consumers due to their greater availability of time and money, and their willingness to travel. They constitute a prime market for the tourism industry both in the number of trips undertaken and magnitude of expenditure. Many of them have the time to travel and are willing to spend a significant amount of their savings in doing so, and are demanding products and services that cater to their needs, preferences and insights (Fleischer and Pizam 2002)

Based as a local example of the relative weight of the senior segment visiting the Basque Country in 2014, we can see that the average stay of tourists aged 50 and over is already 6 % higher than the average tourist, while their total expenditure is 18 % higher. When the tourist age increases to 60 years the average length of stay is 25 % higher, and their total spending is 18 % above the average (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
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Percentage of senior’s tourists visiting Basque Country by country of origin. Source: Internal report for the www.basquetour.net

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Möller et al. (2007) concluded that this increased propensity to travel will increase much more in the future due to a more active generation of seniors that benefit from higher life expectancy, higher disposable incomes and improved health standards; a higher number of seniors that are used to travelling; and a change in attitude towards lifetime savings, disposable time and what it should be used for.

Is the Tourism Industry Responsive Enough to These Opportunities?

The first few years of the new millennium have brought extraordinary change and transformation in destination planning and management. Most destination organizations have amended their traditional business models to keep pace with the evolution of new technologies, emerging innovative advertising strategies, changes in the consumer market, and the growing global competition (Formica and Kothari 2008).

Nevertheless, and bearing in mind the evidence of the importance of the senior travel market, travel businesses have generally operated with a lack of understanding of the characteristics and concerns of senior travellers (Wuest et al. 1996; Oh et al. 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003). Traditionally marketers have tended to focus their attention on younger consumers ignoring those over the age of 50 (Carrigan and Szmigin 1998; Szmigin and Carrigan 2001). The travel industry has also been criticized for failing to recognize the diversity of travel preferences among the senior travel market (Javalgi et al. 1992). The tendency of many tourism marketers and product developers has been to treat senior consumers as one homogeneous segment (Moschis et al. 1997; Cleaver et al. 1999; Horneman et al. 2002).

A recent review of the available research evidence on business practices suggests that marketers do not understand the mature market very well (Moschis and Ünal 2008), and those who decide to market to this segment are not very sure what consumers in these segment want or need and how to market to them (Moschis 2003). Too often, the older travel market is considered as a mass market to be targeted with packages that have generalized appeal (Lehto et al. 2002).

However, the senior market is not homogeneous. In fact, there is a clear variability within the senior segment (Cleaver et al. 1999; Huang and Tsai 2003; Hunter-Jones and Blackburn 2007; Jang and Ham 2009; Patterson 2006; Shoemaker 1989, 2000; Yoon et al. 2009). Nimrod (2008) stated in her study on retirement and tourism that the older adults segment is very heterogeneous, and that there is significant variability among subgroups within different older age cohorts. Currently, senior travellers behave quite differently from what we previously used to denote older travellers as the ‘Silent Generation’ (Bone 1991; Moschis 1991; Moschis and Ünal 2008). These were individuals who were born between the years 1925 and 1943. The silent generation have been described in fairly negative terms as cautious, indifferent, lacking adventure and imagination, and basically just “silent”. The silent generation have been described as a different breed of senior traveller, with the majority not traveling much at all (Strauss and Howe 1991).

One of the variability dimensions is the country of origin of the senior population, and its incidence in tourism consumption, not only in relation to the geographic scope of decision making but is also related to a deeper array of variables.

How Can We Know if Senior Tourism is a Global Market or a Multinational One?

Focusing our interest in the international dimension of strategies to attract senior tourism, we used the strategic dimensions of multinational- global- transnational strategic analysis (Lovelock and Yip 1996; Porter 1986; Prahalad and Doz 1999; Milne and Ateljevic 2001). We found that there had not been any previous studies that discussed an international approach to the senior tourism market, and very few that tried to ascertain any substantial differences according to the country of origin of senior tourists. Jang and Wu (2006) suggested that the motivations of senior visitors’ should be explored in more depth so that other nationalities could cross-validate the findings of their studies. In such a context, tourism planners would be provided with a sound understanding of touristic perceptions and how they differed across countries (Calantone et al. 1989). This is why we decided to undertake this important challenge.

We decided to use an exploratory approach, after having first analysed a large body of literature focusing on senior tourism in a range of different countries, with diverse cultural, sociological, economic conditions and histories. In Table 1 we have summarised in chronological order research that has focussed on senior tourism – including behaviour, motivations and determinants, since the 1980’s until the present day. Each study was considered separately and then summarised to form a comparative analysis so as to build an international panorama of senior travel around the world.

Table 1 Literature review about senior tourism by year of publication and countries
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The aim of this paper is to identify the common denominators that will help to articulate a global tourism market and the variables that will hopefully enable major differences to emerge depending on the countries of origin of senior tourists. This is a major methodological challenge in order to build international conclusions from a unit of analysis that was originally one-country research. In next section we will describe the methodology that will be used to answer this question.

Methodology

The methodology that has been used is based on the following steps (Varnali and Toker 2010; Dickson et al. 2011; Chen et al. 2011).

Analysis Model: Identifying and Classifying Variables

We have based our research on using an Analysis Model that allows us to classify the different variables that emerge which are regarded as important for each country. This is the first step to discover the individual ones that are common and specific. This is not a prescriptive model in itself, but a model for analyzing and structuring the study of the senior tourism market and its behaviour; in this paper the model has been used for studying the research literature. Once the model is able to demonstrate its capability to comprehend all the literature which has been analysed, it can be used to validate further research for the construction of questionaires and the conducting of specific international surveys.

The model examines the relationship that exists between different determinants, both internal or external to the seniors and also personal ones, such as what are their motivations for travelling, and their travel decisions, and consists of five major components (1) the end consumer’s decision with regard to the trip in terms of selection criteria, and priorities such as the duration and activities undertaken (2) motivations that encourages them to travel, (3) internal or personal variables which can be both enhancers or constraints, such as health, family situation, aspects that directly influence the decision process; (4) external determinants, of the origin and context (5) The external determinants that will be used to decide or discard destinations will influence directly the decisions taken such as personal determinants and motivations (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2
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Conceptual model

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This classification model is defined to be generally applicable to all countries regardless of their language, culture, sociological, educational or religious variables. If some of the variables appear as important motivators, or determinants, or behaviour of senior tourists in one country and not in another, we will be able to logically assess it so as to conclude if this is strategically significant or not.

The findings will have practical implications for public policy managers, private organizations, and marketers in different regions or geographical locations to help formulate strategies to achieve competitive advantage for their organizations. Senior tourism has potential long - term advantages, not only for immediate economic return, but also, and perhaps even more significantly, long-term relationships and better services, adapted to the capabilities and characteristics of the country and region.

Literature Review

We conducted an intensive review of the literature through an iterative search in multiple literature databases such as the Web of Science, Scopus and Dialnel. These online databases were selected and searched to provide a comprehensive bibliography of the academic literature on senior tourism. The studies that were reviewed had been published over a period of more than 25 years from 1994 to 2015. The literature search was limited to peer-reviewed journals and was based on the following keywords:

  1. 1.

    To address the focus market segment: “senior tourism”, “senior travellers”, “baby boomers”, “senior tourism demand”, “senior consumers”, “older travellers”

  2. 2.

    To address the components of the Analysis Model: “senior motivations”, “determinants”, “senior tourism behaviour” “senior tourism demand”, “seniors” and “country of origin”.

Literature Analysis

Selected research studies on senior tourism, behaviour, travel motivations and country of origin were identified, retrieved and analysed. The articles that met the criteria are shown in Table 1. Each of the published articles that were selected used a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods and each of the variables was scrutinized through an indepth analysis.

A total of 78 variables emerged from an analysis of the literature, all of which were classified into the Model of Analysis, and also the countries of origin of the respondent senior tourists were analysed.

The dominance of the quantitative approach was evident. Patterson (2006) called for researchers to further develop and apply qualitative methods that will enable them to gain a better and more in-depth recollection and understanding of the actual trip experience. Sedgley et al. (2011) further advocated for the application of not only qualitative methods to examine the full breath of the subject but also for more cross-disciplinary enquiries particularly in gerontology, so as to provide meaningful insights into the lives of this population (Kazeminia et al. 2015).

The next step was to classify the articles according to their central focus, aim/s and perspective/s. Although the subjective nature of the classification process might give rise to validity concerns, it did not pose a threat to the sufficiency of the content provided in the literature review. The purpose of the classification is to provide an organized conceptual framework of senior tourism literature linked to each country of origin, and highlight the areas of interest of different researchers (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3
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Classification framework for senior tourism and country of origin research

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  • We then presented the main results, that were classified according to the different components of the Analysis Model. Each of the variables were classified according to:In order of importance, defined by the percentage of papers in which they appeared

  • We check marked the variables that showed a global approach and were important in all the countries or continent/s; this was shown by a line that occupied a complete row of the table

  • The variables that were alone showed a specific feature were linked to the particular country of origin.

It is interesting to note that only one variable was related to the country of origin, showing the difficulty we faced in undertaking an international comparison. It was also important to note that we grouped countries according to their continent in order to have enough observations to obtain the percentages for classification purposes. Each of the tables compared senior tourism across the following continents: United Kingdom, North America (Mainly focussing on USA), Europe and Asia (mainly focussing on China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan).

Main Results

We present in the following tables the main results, classified by each of the components of the Analysis Model, stablishing intra-cathefories group in order to better understand the commun points and differences along countries and continents.

To build those tables some criterias have been used:

  • Each variable appears classified following the order of importance defined by the percentage of total papers in which it has appeared

  • We have marked the variables that show a global approach and are important in all the countries or continent; this is shown by a line that occupies a complete row of the table

  • The ones that are marked just in one single position shows a specific feature linked to a country

It is interesting to note that only 1 variable was found related directly with the country of origin, showing the inexistance and imposibility of doing an international comparison inside each study itself.

It is also important to note that we have grouped countries in continents in order to have enough observations to obtein the percentages for classification purposes. All the tables compares:

  • UK

  • USA

Those are the only countries that presents enough surveys to be analysed with our methodology

  • Europe: that includes an important array of papers

  • Asia: That mainly focuses on China, Japon, Korea and Taiwan

Tourism Behaviour and Decision

As we can see in Table 2, the Senior Tourism Behaviour shows very commun features in every country and continent analysed: they travel off peak season, spend more money, stay longer and are sensible to promotions. But also, we can see specificities in some variables: USA seniors do not have more vacation days; UK seniors do not travel longer distances, nor more frequently; and only European seniors appreciates gastronomy enough to be less sensible to prices.

Table 2 Seniors tourism behaviour and decision process
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Analysing the Tourism Decision Criteria, we can observe that USA appears as a completely different market in the variables considered in the papers analysed.

Senior Tourism Motivations

Table 3 shows the 3 main common motivations for seniors doing tourism: Health, Wellbeing and Social Interaction. Learning and Relaxation are important motivators with some exceptions:

Table 3 Senior tourism motivations
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  • Learning seems not an important motivation in UK papers analysed while in all the rest of geographical areas it is a very important one.

  • Relaxation does not appear as motivator in USA while it is the most important one in Asia.

We can also see very specific motivations in some areas that does not appear in others:

  • Europe shows Beauty and Improving language skills as important motivations

  • Asia, Patriotism and Pride

Personal Determinants

We have classified the personal determinants in a symmetric way as the motivations identified, because some of those motivations can be justified by seniors’ current situation and we wanted to define a model with the capability to explore those links further on.

As it could be expected, the main personal determinants in every country and region are: Health situation, economic situation, available time and familiar responsibilities. Age appears as a grounded variable that in our view will be correlated with most of the previous ones.

It is interesting to note that the rest of determinants are not ranked so high, probably because they conform other criteria for segment’s definition that are not related in a straight way with their country of origin.

External Determinants

Finally, Tables 4 and 5 shows the most important variables that seniors look for in Tourism destinations and facilities:

Table 4 Seniors tourism personal determinants
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Table 5 Seniors tourism external determinants (Related to destination)
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  • In every country and region, safety, climate, cost, transport convenience, and special events are important determinants considered for destinations.

  • Also, the comfort and specific facilities are taken into account for choosing a hotel

  • Racial and cultural aspects are also important for every country or region except UK

  • The existence of governmental programs for promoting senior tourism is an important determinant only in Europe

Discussion

This section aims to identify and analyse the common denominators that will articulate a global tourism market and the variables in which major differences emerge among countries

Our research confirms that senior segment shows globally a more intensive tourism consumption than their younger counterparts in every country analysed. Seniors travel more frequently, stay away longer, spend more money, and rely more on travel agents than their non-senior counterparts. Since the very pioneer piece of research this is a global trend that impacts more and more the global tourism market. So we can confirm that seniors consume differently (Rosenfeld 1986; Shoemaker 1989; Cleaver et al. 1999; Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003; Hunter-Jones and Blackburn 2007; Nimrod 2008; Jang and Ham 2009; Yoon et al. 2009). Nimrod (2008) stated that with more time available, and fewer work and family responsibilities, retirees feel that they can travel whenever they want, for as long as they wish, which also provides an opportunity to travel differently.

We also confirm that seniors are not seasonal tourists, they travel in the off seasons, which makes the senior market more attractive to tourism businesses (Pederson 1994; Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003; Jang and Wu 2006; Śniadek 2006; Hunter-Jones and Blackburn 2007; Möller et al. 2007; Alén et al. 2012; Esichaikul 2012; Major and McLeay 2013a), which concurs with Anderson and Langmeyer (1982) on stating that seniors travel non – peak seasons.

Seniors seem to be sensible to promotions, probably because thay have a broader range of dates to travel, and have a preference for package tours in many countries. Nevertheless it is interesting to highlight differences on them. Huang and Tsai 2003 conclude in their study of senior traveller behaviour in Taiwan that Taiwanese senior travellers do want to join typical all-inclusive package tours. The traditional non-personalized package tour is not highly desired. Taiwanese senior travellers want a more elegant, less regimented itinerary.

Price sensitivity has been discussed in many studies. Javalgi et al. (1992) found that seniors were more price sensitive. Ryan (1995: 209) found that “the retired were the most sensitive to issues of pricing”. Sudbury and Simcock (2009) confirm the price consciousness of seniors. Huang and Tsai 2003 studied senior traveller behaviour in Taiwan and found that they tend to spend more on travel, creating a potential senior travel market that will be of great significance, but also mentioned the importance of reasonable prices.

At the purchase moment, there is also an agreement about seniors wanting to buy travel from travel agents that understand their needs. If travel agents cannot offer appropriate travel product to them through an efficient and effective marketing program, potential senior travellers will continue to feel ignored (Huang and Tsai 2003). Major and McLeay (2013a), conclude on their study that it was apparent that greys were using the internet to evaluate holiday prices but frequently booked through their local travel agent with whom they had a relationship and who would agree to offer the price found on the internet.

In our research, those variables are going to be very much influenced by the personal determinants such the socio-economical issues; also, the country of origin can show differences for those variables, but the explanation of those differences will be more related to the relative weight of an specific segment in the country, than by the country itself. The economic development of the country and its welfare and educational policies along the time influence very much the size of the different senior market segments, and its purchasing power.

The most remarkable variables affecting seniors and included in the motivations category are health benefits, rest and relaxing and learning. These findings are consistent with former researchers (Pederson 1994; Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003); external determinants: safety and security, easy transportation and an appropriate accommodation, which concur with Pederson (1994); Jang and Wu (2006); Esichaikul (2012); Major and McLeay (2013b); internal determinants: personal health, income and education, also pointed out by Hunter-Jones and Blackburn (2007); Jang and Wu (2006); Jang and Ham (2009).

Health has been a constant in the literature review with regard to senior tourism, as motivation or constraint. Consciously or subconsciously, health and wellbeing influences all patterns of consumer behaviour, albeit to varying degrees. It is likely to be most obvious within the senior market given that generally as people age, they naturally experience an increase in health-related problem (Hunter-Jones and Blackburn 2007). Jang and Wu (2006: 314) stated in their study on seniors travel motivations focused on Taiwanese seniors, that findings indicated, “Health status and affect were fundamentally important in accounting for travel motivation of Taiwanese seniors”. Horneman et al. (2002) claim that seniors’ motivation is shifting toward more active pursuits with a strong focus on health and fitness. In this respect, it is noteworthy that many researchers, whose most relevant variables on motivation have been analysed in this research, also state that fitness, physical challenges and exercises are included in travel motivation (Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003; Sniadek 2006; Möller et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2007; Chen and Wu 2009; Esichaikul 2012). Blazey (1987) established how health status is critical for older people motivated to participate in travel activities. As Kim et al. (2015a, b) note, in the leisure industry, many studies have supported activity theory and demonstrated that elderly people's high level of involvement and activity contributes to their quality of life (Iso-Ahola et al. 1994; Menec and Chipperfield 1997; Palmore 1979; Riddick and Stewart 1994; Fernandez-Ballesteros et al. 2001; Silverstein and Parker 2002; Kim et al. 2015a, b).

There is a critical interrelationship between health and activity: on the one hand poor health can determine activity (for example, it is a major factor in early retirement) while, on the other hand, activity can be an important contributor to health (Walker 2002). Thus, health can be a motivator and also could be seen as a constraint. Kazeminia et al. (2015) state that seniors seem to be attempting to negotiate the intrapersonal constraints by finding proper health insurance coverage and joining less active, less adventurous tours (e.g., tours with fewer walking requirements). Barriers to participation have been a feature of many studies. Smith’s (1987) review of the leisure of disabled tourists, and Gladwell and Bedini’s (2004) study of the leisure patterns of informal caregivers, provide two examples of general inhibitors, while Fleischer and Pizam’s (2002) study of the travel constraints of the Israeli senior market provides an age-linked perspective In this later study, citing the work of McGuire et al. (1988), five travel inhibitors are identified, which include: external resources, time factors, approval, social and physical well-being.

While these constraints may be subject to budget and time pressures, as age increases, they will be conditioned in part by the tourist’s individual health: ‘in each case as health status deteriorates, either objectively, as measured by chronic conditions and mobility problems, or subjectively, as measured by self-assessed health, the tendency to travel decreases’ (Zimmer et al. 1995). Nevertheless Mintel (2000) concluded in his study that while some third-age travellers (aged 45–64 years) consider their health before travelling, many have a ‘live for today’ attitude whereby regardless of health problems, they generally feel well and good about themselves, an optimism both the consumer and industry could do more to capitalize upon. This was corroborated by Hunter-Jones and Blackburn (2007), who stated in their study that seniors reported a relatively high level of self-assessed health status despite experiencing a number of chronic conditions and mobility restrictions.

In the studies reviewed, psychological and internal variables such as wellbeing, self-fulfilment, nostalgia, learning, knowledge seeking, escaping daily routine and visiting relatives and friends are repeated among researchers in both Western and non-western countries (Pederson 1994; Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003; McGuire and Norman 2005; Hsu et al. 2007; Möller et al. 2007; Nimrod 2008; Chen and Wu 2009; Yoon et al. 2009; Alen et al. 2010; Esichaikul 2012). Jang and Wu (2006) examined the travel motivations of Taiwanese seniors and identified knowledge seeking as the most important push motivation. Möller et al. (2007) state on their study on the changing travel behaviour on Austria’s population that social activities and seeking excitement are very important to the elderly.

Lee and Tideswell 2005 note that leisure has a positive influence on the lives of elderly people and, in particular, their satisfaction with life. The interests and desires of the elderly are satisfied through leisure. Thus, pleasure travel has been found to be an important issue affecting the quality of life of seniors (Lee and Tideswell 2005). As some researchers state, the interests and desires of the elderly are satisfied through leisure (Tinsley and Tinsley 1986; Schreyer and Driver 1989; Coleman and Iso-Ahola 1993). Lee and Tideswell (2005) confirm that the right type of leisure can help seniors’ physical and mental fitness and lead to greater life satisfaction.

It is interesting to point out, as stated by Hsu et al. (2007), the differences between numerous studies conducted in developed countries identified indulgent relaxation as an important travel motivation for seniors (Guinn 1980; Kim et al. 1996; Backman et al. 1999; Cleaver et al. 1999; Sellick 2004) who would like to reward themselves for dealing with present-day demands and boredom associated with staying at home, comparing to Chinese seniors, who reward themselves too through leisure travel, although not necessarily in the form of a luxury vacation. The reward is also not for coping with the present-day routine demands, but rather for the hardships and tough times they experienced throughout their lifespan.

Learning, discovery, knowledge seeking is important to seniors. There seems to be a general purpose of learning through leisure in seniors comparing to younger travellers (Backman et al. 1999; Hsu et al. 2007). Muller and Strickland (1995) suggest that seniors are looking to learn more about themselves and the world around them, and travel can provide a vehicle for self-fulfilment through opportunities to learn and discover. Similar observations were affirmed in numerous other studies (Kim et al. 1996). But the type of knowledge they seek is not heterogeneous. Hsu et al. (2007) identified that many seniors explicitly expressed the desire to learn about the changes of their country. Such expressions were noticeably imbued with a high sense of pride and patriotism.

Nostalgic-seeking as a motivation for the senior market has been examined by many researchers (Fleischer and Pizam 2002). In a study by Sellick (2004), the author found that nostalgia is one of the most important travel motives for the largest segment of senior travellers. Similarly, a number of other studies have shown that the nostalgic desire of seniors to revisit their ancestral homes is consistent across cultures (Hsu et al. 2007; Cleaver et al. 1999). Nostalgia is thus repeated among researchers but the difference in meaning seems to be subtle but an important issue to take into account. As Hsu et al. (2007) identify in their study, the rich life experiences of Chinese seniors, albeit mostly bitter, give them a strong motive to travel for nostalgic purposes; and these travellers have much to reminisce.

Status and prestige seems to be an important issue for some European senior tourists (Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Bocksbergers and Laesser 2008; Esichaikul 2012). Major and McLeay (2013a) emphasised in the results of their research that guests under the age of 16 years is enormously successful with grey holiday makers and also satisfaction and its link to the tourist experience was pointed out by the nature of the extremely high rebooking and loyal behaviour shown.

A variety of researchers note that tourists’ motivations are multiple (Crompton 1979; Mayo and Jarvis 1981). Fleischer and Pizam (2002) state that, like their younger counterparts, seniors travel for numerous reasons: for rest and relaxation, social interaction, physical exercises, learning, nostalgia, and excitement. Therefore, not all seniors have the same tourism motivation and preferentes. Research shows that the senior market is diverse with respect to sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyles, interests, attitudes, and consumption patterns (You and O’leary 1999; Horneman et al. 2002). Hunter-Jones and Blackburn (2007: 12) conclude in their research “senior tourists are anything but a homogenous consumer group”. Horneman et al. (2002) claim that seniors’ motivation is shifting toward more active pursuits with a strong focus on health and fitness. In this respect, it is noteworthy that many researchers also state that fitness, physical challenges and exercises are included in travel motivation (Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003; Sniadek 2006; Möller et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2007; Chen and Wu 2009; Esichaikul 2012), as suggested by Guinn (1980), who observed in his senior sample that travel motivation included rest and relaxation, social interaction, physical exercise, learning, excitement and nostalgia. Thus, differences exist across genders, age categories, sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and numerous other factors (Yoon et al. 2009).

Despite extensive research on tourist motivation (Crompton 1979; Ryan and Glendon 1998; Qiu and Lam 1999), the literature still suffers from a lack of empirical studies that investigate whether tourist motives differ between groups and destinations (Kozak 2002), and also from a lack of studies analysing the strategic impact of the country of origin for senior tourism demand. Comparative studies relating to senior travelers have tended to deal with similarities and differences between senior travelers and travelers from other age groups (Huang and Tsai 2003). Nevertheless, as the authors state, no attention has been previously directed at understanding senior travelers from non-Western countries as Taiwan and China and the reasons for their distinctions. There have been successful attempts to apply these models to the populations in non-western cultures but developed societies such as Taiwan (Jang and Wu 2006) and Japan (Cai and Combrink 2000; Cha et al. 1995). However, the application of “western” models by posing close ended questions to non-western respondents may deprive them of the opportunity to express their travel motivations that are alien to the western populations but unique to the non-western societies (Hsu et al. 2007).

Safety and security is one of the destination most cited variable. Perceived importance of safety tends to increase as tourists grow older (Esichaikul 2012). A study of the accommodation needs of mature travellers by Ruys and Wei (1998) five major dimensions were identified as important to mature travellers, being safety the first: safety, convenience, security, service, and then comfort and recreation (Ruys and Wei 1998).

Lindqvist and Bjork (2000) conclude in their study on perceived safety as an important quality dimension among senior tourists, from interviews carried out in Finland among seniors, that perceived safety is an important factor in their decision making and that the importance of this factor increases as the tourist grows older. Major and McLeay (2013a) conclude their research on evaluating the overseas package holiday experience of grey consumers in the United Kingdom emphasising the underlying significance of the importance of security due to age and health issues which came across as supremely important in their study. Jang and Wu (2006) examined the travel motivations of Taiwanese seniors and identified knowledge seeking, cleanliness and safety as the most important push and pull motivations, respectively. Esichaikul (2012) in his study on travel motivations, behaviour and requirements of European senior tourists to Thailand, concludes by stating that safety of the destination is the most important factor for respondents. While motives for travel are an important issue, the involvement of risk may help marketers understand the actual travel behaviour of a senior tourist (Sellick 2004).

Seniors’ higher reliance on travel agents, coupled with their willingness to engage in preplanned packaged tours, represents their greater tendency to negotiate constraints and guarantee a risk-free leisure activity (Javalgi et al. 1992). Seniors are more likely to use packaged tours because the option comes with three major built-in benefits: constraint alleviation, uncertainty reduction, and simplification of decisions (Kazeminia et al. 2015).

Conclusions and Practical Implications

Senior tourism shows many global features strategically relevant to understand their Behaviour and Decision Process, their Motivations, and Determinants, at the personal level, but also at the external one, mostly referring to the destination characteristics.

But also our study demonstrates what many researchers have agreed on dealing with senior tourists from different countries of origin in previous studies. Huang and Tsai (2003: 571) stated in their study and conclusions that “it had been notable that, in comparison with Shoemaker’s study in 1996, few differences existed. It might be thought that the behaviour of Taiwanese senior travellers and American senior travellers should show some significant differences due to cultural differences and perhaps this should be explored further”.

We would like to add that even if the variables and differences in some occasions may not seem to be too significant, subtle differences could be vital in order to be able to offer products that really meet the needs of the senior segment.

For example, understanding deeply the western concept of financial independence between seniors and their adult children, differences emerging concerning climate; the different concept of self fulfilment or nostalgic…all might be subtle but really important issues to be considered when trying to understand seniors needs and insights and developing services to seniors.

Overall this study suggests that the tourism industry must be attentive to the senior market because of the rapid increase in this market’s size and also the importance to genuinely understand the needs and wants of this heterogeneous segment and adapt to the capabilities and characteristics of the country/region/offer or receptors.

Thus, there is a clear need to understand the heterogeneity of the senior segment, their travel patterns, their culture and the idiosyncrasies of the country of origin in a need to balance global strategies and local ones. Concurring with Tung et al. (2011), it is vital for tourism practitioners to recognize that different travellers can experience a situation very differently even if equivalent services, events, and activities are provided. More so today than ever before, aging has become a largely non-uniform process. Moreover, the senior travel market is one of the most challenging for scholars to understand due to its inherent complexities (Tung et al. 2011).

The findings of this research provide some insight into the travel behaviour of senior tourists and may have practical implications for public policy managers, industry practitioners and those regions or geographical locations which want to attract this segment. Understanding senior consumers and being able to innovate so as to cater for the demands, needs and expectations of senior travellers is becoming an essential goal for the tourism industry.

The findings also provide useful insights into the senior market by helping travel marketers to plan and execute marketing strategies such as in product and service development.

Limitations and Future Research

This study is a first attempt to investigate the strategic impact of the country of origin on senior tourism demand. The implications drawn are subject to several limitations. Firstly, this research covered a large number of studies in detail however there are some that have been missed. This study was conducted with a relatively small group of scholars so a similar study with a larger sample could be repeated. The relevance and applicability of these findings need further investigation, which is not possible with the data at hand from this study. It is, however, a particularly important line of investigation given the possibilities raised in this work. Further research dealing with the impact of the country of origin is also warranted.

Senior travellers are now showing different travel behaviour and motivations from seniors who were travelling in past decades. Further research in this area is vital to be able to better anticipate the preferences and adequate tourism products for this important target group (Möller et al. 2007).