Senior Millionaires and their Travel Behaviours: the Case of Turkey

Abstract

This study is one of the preliminary studies in the literature, which explores and analyzes the travel behaviour of an under-researched segment, the millionaire senior tourists who are 70 years old and above living on the west coast of Turkey. The sample consists of 22 respondents and we reached them via snowball sampling technique. Grounding the research on the socioemotional selectivity theory, we attempt to explain the senior tourists’ objectives and motivations for travel and their consumption behaviour within the tourism industry. Findings reveal several preferences of senior tourists while traveling to a specific destination. They travel more frequently than before, still have the desire to explore new destinations as long as they are healthy, and love to socialize with people. They look for unique services during their travel experience. The study enlightens the field of senior tourism from a millionaires’ perspective for the researchers, practitioners, and marketers in the tourism and hospitality industry.