Senior tourismdeterminants, motivations and behaviour in a globalized and evolving market segment

Resumen

This thesis focuses in the study of the senior tourism, a topic that has been receiving increasing attention in literature due to its growth potential and the specificities that seniors can present in their way of consuming tourism and travelling. Following the state of the art, a conceptual model is defined to structure a deep understanding of the variables that define those specificities -and the link among them considering the following main groups of variables: their personal-internal determinants, the external ones, their motivations, and further on, their behaviour and preferences. This conceptual model is refined and developed after the analysis of 56 papers devoted to the subject, from 19 different regions, countries and continents and during a period of time that starts in 1980 and finishes in 2016, confirming its structural capability to integrate 78 different variables. The listing of the variables that emerges from this broad meta-analysis allows also to obtain intra-categories inside each group and the most important variables -defining importance as an index (RII) that reflects in how many papers the variable appears-, thus, identifying the strategically relevant variables that affect the way seniors consume tourism. The country of origin - as an external determinant that can also influence the probability of some personal determinants- is analysed specifically in order to qualify the senior segment as a global or a multi-domestic one, a very important aspect for the Tourism Industry, that has been neglected in the literature. A meta-analysis comparing geographic areas and regarding the differences that emerge in each group of variables of the conceptual model sheds light on some interesting insights to be explored with a n ad-hoc methodology defined and focused to compare seniors from different countries of origin. In depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with seniors from 2 origins- with interesting differences in some variables, but also with some similarities: Basque Country and Oxfordshire. Starting from a convenience sample of 42 seniors, 26 variables of the conceptual model were scrutinized and an exploratory descriptive and multivariate analysis was conducted. It has been demonstrated in the sample analyzed that 5 dimensions can comprehend 54% of variations in Senior Tourism Behavior and Motivations: 30% of those components are "country dependent" and 24% shows global patterns. This figures open an amazing discussion about the possibility of defining a global strategy for senior tourism, and the need to adapt strategies to the nationalities we are focusing on. Also, 12 sub segments of the senior market have emerged from this exploratory analysis considering the three dimensions in which the country of origin was important. The methodology allowed a conceptualization of the segment and also a quantification of their market share in the sample. For example, the segment named "hyper conservatives" is formed by individuals who see no need to change their destination each year, who see their leisure trip as a familiar experience and who are happy to visit the same destination every year. This is a segment that represents 44.82% of the sample from the Basque Country, in contrast with 7.69 % from the Oxfordshire sample. Another segment was "restless innovators", individuals who seek out new comfortable destinations and experiences, listen to suggestions from travel agencies and search for information on the Internet. This is a segment that represents 10.34% of the sample from the Basque Country, but 53.84% from the Oxfordshire sample. The qualitative evolutionary component of the Senior Tourism Demand has been also considered and analysed in our research, overcoming previous analysis that focus mainly on the demographic evidence of the quantitative growth expected in the number of senior people. In order to achieve this goal, a historical and evolutionary analysis of the past has been considered important so as to project the future. The authors considered in the meta analysis of the literature on senior tourism from 1980 to 2016 have studied and analysed different generations of seniors, and in very different temporary contexts. An evolutionary metaanalysis of the literature has been done to identify when some variables have emerged (or disappeared) and to check how the RII of each variable can be changing along time, defining three distinct time periods. These periods have been chosen because they provide meaningful contributions to the senior tourism literature, and also allows to use the variables RII measurement to study their evolutionary patterns. The three time periods are:(1) Pioneer Period from 1980 to 1996; (2) Growth Period from 1997 to 2008 and (3) Crisis Period from 2009 to 2016, period in which there was an increase in the number of Europe scholars who became moreinterested in this topic. This meta-analysis and historical analysis of the literature has provided interesting issues and perspectives on the differences and similarities of the interests of researchers in analysing senior tourism across different time dimensions. Evolutionary patterns have emerged in the historical analysis which has been developed and trends that may continue in the future are highlighted. In order to identify some new drivers that can emerge from future generations of seniors, and considering that the future seniors are already here, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with preseniors from Basque Country and Oxfordshire, comparing their differences and similarities with current seniors in 28 variables of the conceptual model. Thus, starting with a convenient sample of 40 preseniors and 42 seniors, an exploratory descriptive and multivariate analysis was conducted. It is important to note that almost 50 % of the explanatory power of the first 5 principal components, and senior/presenior variable is relevant in principal components (pc) 1 and 2 that aggregates a 26.36% of the total variation, giving place to 4 sub segments, in which preseniors and seniors have a very different weight. For example, the segment named "new-born not occupied traveller" is formed by individuals who envision travelling as a breaking activity - this is why they are new-borns to that, even if they have travelled a lot before and it helps them to occupy their free time. It is a segment that represents 42.85% of current seniors in contrast with 2,5% of current preseniors. Another segment was "expert self-conscious traveller", i individuals who travel for leisure but search for something else, with an open vision and a desire for keeping an active life and self fulfilment, for strengthening their travel experience with active and special activities. This is a segment that represents 45% of preseniors contrasting with 11.90% of current seniors. The four research questions on which the study is based are answered and the seven hypothesis are confirmed along the research. The thesis concludes with a set of recommendations derived from these findings applied to the different actors that have an active role in this field: academic community, but also practitioners in the Hospitality Industry, Destinations Management, and Tourism Organizations Managers. This research has created innovative ways to address some of the gaps identified in the literature as it is the need to understand the wants of an ageing population; the need to expand knowledge of the trends underpinning tourism development so as to increase the capacity of stakeholders to formulate strategies to achieve competitive advantage for their organization and the need to analyse this market segment from an international dimensión as well as to provide useful insights into the senior market segment.