Senior tourism and customer experience

Abstract

In an increasingly aging population, a well-known fact in most developed countries, demographic shifts will be seen across all continents. These changes will have massive long-term impacts and influence on many sectors, tourism being one of them. Becoming old does not necessarily restrict seniors’ desire to travel. In fact, the opposite is occurring, and the travel behavior of seniors is shifting and evolving. There is a younger outlook and an increasing and more complex demand for tourism and hospitality experiences, not normally associated with older adults from past generations. Understanding the opportunities of senior tourism linked to customer experience and accounting for the changes in travel behavior in a proactive way will have practical implications for the hospitality industry, public policy makers, industry practitioners and travel marketers. A review of the literature through several retrieval strategies will be used in order to shed light on the needs and wants of seniors regarding leisure traveling experiences. This chapter outlines (1) how the hospitality industry responds to the changing needs, wants and expectations of senior travelers regarding customer experience (2) and concludes with a discussion of key considerations to improve customer experience in the silver economy.