Moving for a good life: tourism mobility and subjective well-being of Chinese retirement migrants

Abstract

Retirees’ mobility patterns from origin cities to tourist destinations in pursuit of a “good life” have become a worldwide research topic as studies originating in Western countries spread to emerging economies. This study investigates if and how retirees’ movement patterns influence their subjective well-being (SWB) and whether groups with different mobility patterns exhibit unique SWB. Data are drawn from a sample of 546 retirement migrants aged over 50 from the domestic tourist destination of Zhuhai, China. Empirical results show that population characteristics, mobility patterns, and living patterns are significant predictors of retirement migrants’ SWB. Specifically, a better life ideally involves moving to a larger house in a tourist destination that features a warm climate and high-quality amenities. The destination should be of minimal distance from retirees’ hometowns, enabling them to return with ease. We further identified four groups of retirees (peripatetic visitors, amenity migrants, seasonal migrants, and full residents), with amenity migrants having the highest SWB. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.