Senior Travelers Research Articles

Enhancing cross-cultural communication for Chinese tourists in non-native English-speaking destinations: a study of sociolinguistic competence and politeness challenges

Abstract The current study explores the sociolinguistic challenges experienced by Chinese tourists. The purposive sampling approach was applied for data collection to comprehend the respondents’ communication hurdles. Online and offline questionnaires were also distributed to accommodate senior travellers. A total of 964 valid responses were gathered, which reflected the increasing trend of outbound tourism among Chinese nationals. The present study employed sociolinguistic competence as a mediating variable (specifically, its interplay with intercultural communication anxiety and politeness) within the Communicative Competence Model (CCM) framework. Several strategies that consider the nuanced aspects of language and culture are also proposed. The findings can potentially enhance service standards in the tourism sector by improving Chinese visitors’ intercultural communication experiences in various international destinations.

Seniors constraints to travel: analysing discussions on TripAdvisor

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to employ text mining techniques to examine discussions concerning senior travel topics in the TripAdvisor forums. Through this meticulous examination of discussions, we aim to unravel not only the surface-level themes but also the underlying motivations and concerns that drive seniors to actively participate in travel forums. The prevalent topics include essential travel insurance details, with a particular emphasis on coverage related to the disease of COVID-19. Other recurring subjects involve travel/tour agencies, considerations for cash or card payments, and discussions on customer service, especially in the context of insurance and travel companies/agencies. Results highlight that forum discussions align with prior studies on seniors, identifying three primary constraints: health, safety/security, and specific recommendations. Senior travellers predominantly seek advice on travel companies, insurance providers, services, and destinations.

Unraveling the Barriers Contributing to the Seniors Travelers’ Non-adoption Intention of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) has gained popularity and has been adopted by the hospitality and tourism industries as a means of engaging customers and marketing. However, there is still a relatively moderate level of VR adoption by senior travelers in the tourism context, even though they are a potential group of tourists that could benefit. With this context in mind, this study sought to fill this gap in the literature by investigating the barriers that subsidize senior tourists’ resistance to VR. The hypothesized model was assessed using PLS-SEM centered on the responses of 431 senior Pakistani tourists. These findings demonstrate that technical and psychological barriers play an eminent role in explaining senior tourists’ resistance to VR. Specifically, senior tourists’ resistance to VR is associated with inertia, perceived risk, technology anxiety, incompatibility, and insufficient human interaction. In conclusion, resistance influences attitudes and non-adoption intention (NI), with attitude assisting as the mediator between NI and resistance. Additionally, perceived complexity was not significantly associated with resistance. Furthermore, NI for VR has been reported to be influenced by resistance.

Senior citizen tourists’ push and pull motivations: an approach–avoidance perspective

Purpose The purpose of this study is to pioneer the exploration of approach and avoidance intentions of senior tourists by analyzing push and pull factors. It innovatively categorizes these factors into dual-impact, resilient and facilitative types, surpassing previous research by understanding complex motivations shaping senior travel decisions. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional research surveyed 641 elderly individuals in Odisha and West Bengal, India, analyzing data using structural equation modeling. Findings Notably, certain push factors such as health improvement, novelty and socialization exert a positive influence on approach intentions while discouraging avoidance intentions. The push factors of status and self-fulfillment solely have a negative impact on avoidance intentions. The factors of escape and relaxation have been found to positively contribute to approach intentions. In the realm of pull factors, destination familiarity/friendliness quotient and ease of consumption of tourist experiences exert a positive influence on approach intentions, whereas the health safety and security quotient of a destination reduces avoidance intentions. Originality/value This study uniquely categorizes push and pull factors impacting senior tourists’ intentions. The identification of dual-impact, resilient and facilitative factors opens new avenues for creating a supportive and accessible environment for senior tourists, thereby improving their travel experiences.

Phenomenology of Leisure Travel following Death of a Loved One

This paper advances knowledge around the intersection of death, loss, and leisure travel. Our phenomenological study revealed the lived experiences of seven senior travelers who had traveled internationally following the death of a loved one(s). We employed the ‘MeBox’ method to help uncover new layers of meaning that are not always easy to put into words. The findings of our study provide new insights into notions of leisure by identifying overseas leisure travel within a liminal space in which feelings of loss and acceptance, and the creation of new perspectives, are experienced following the death of a loved one(s). Our findings challenge the destructive nature of human loss following death of a loved one(s). Instead, the experience of international travel appeared to influence the social, material, and existential life of senior travelers after the death of a loved one(s), transforming leisure into a personally meaningful experience for them.

Proposal of an active senior travel service scenario through the future PBV platform interaction

Proposal of an active senior travel service scenario through the future PBV platform interaction

Tourist experience and well-being of Chinese elderly tourists through intergenerational interaction with their adult children

Studies on senior travel have focused on older adults' travel motivations, experiences, and well-being separately; less attention has been paid to how intergenerational interactions define these tourists' experiences and well-being. This study explored how intergenerational interactions with adult children shape the elderly's travel experience and well-being. In-depth interviews with elderly tourists revealed that their interactions with adult children occur when they travel together and not, and, in the pre-travel, and in-transit travel, and post-travel. Results further showed that adult children's acknowledgement (disconfirmation) of elderly tourists' experience plays an important role in the supportive (conflicting) interactions and subsequently enhanced (jeopardized) the elderly's well-being. Thus, a close investigation of the impact of intergenerational interaction on the travel experience and well-being of seniors enables tourism industry to make appropriate changes to its strategies and tourism products to enhance intergenerational interaction, thereby contributing to the growth of the silver-haired tourism market and destination performance.

Investigating senior travel behaviour through motivation opportunities ability approach: conspicuous consumption and technology self-efficacy as moderators

ABSTRACT To comprehend the factors that motivate and inhibit seniors’ travel behaviour, and the influence of “conscious consumption” and “technology efficacy”, a research framework is developed based on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability model (MOA). Data was collected from 374 senior travelers and was analysed using smart PLS. The findings revealed the impact of motivators and opportunity which was measured by constraints to travelling was found to be significant. Technology efficacy (ability) was found to moderate the relationship between intentions and actual travel behaviour. Conspicuous consumption moderated the relationship between social affiliation, arousal, and intentions. This research will help policymakers create tourism involvement initiatives.

Cultural, Creative, and Religious Senior Travel: Evidence and Research on the City of Iași

Abstract The tourism industry is one of the most successful and offering industries considering the variations it has, and that is universally addressed to everyone, regardless of age, nationality, or gender. In this century, tourism for seniors has expanded at a significantly accelerated pace globally. Services for senior tourists are increasingly diversified globally, as well as in Romania, where this research is developed. Travel agencies are creating packages and special offers tailored to domestic and international seniors for circuits or pilgrimages. Nowadays, being a senior is no longer a shortcoming. They benefit from increased attention from travel agencies that provide more advantageous prices. This article deals with three tourism segments: cultural tourism, creative tourism, and religious tourism focusing on seniors. The purpose of the article is to find out, through the questionnaire method, the type of tourism practiced by senior Romanian tourists and the attraction factors in choosing the city of Iași as a tourist destination. The results of the study are relevant in that the tourism practiced by the senior respondents is pilgrimage tourism. Almost half of them chose religious tourist attractions as motivating factors to travel to Iași, and a notable event in this regard is the annual pilgrimage to Saint Parascheva. According to the questionnaire results, cultural tourism is practiced harmoniously with religious tourism. Therefore, the study contributes to the tourism field by extending our current knowledge of senior tourism and has implications for better organizing their travel.

시니어 여행교육 프로그램 요구의 유형화 - 시니어 자유여행 경험자의 주관성을 중심으로 -

개별자유여행이 하나의 대중적인 여행트렌드로 자리잡고 있는 가운데, 자유여행을 갈망하는 시니어를 대상으로 한 여행강좌가 큰 인기를 얻고 있다. 기존 여행교육 프로그램은 공급자 중심의 설계로 이루어지고 있어 다양한 수강자의 요구가 반영되지 않고 있다. 따라서 이 연구의 목적은 Q방법론을 적용하여 시니어 자유여행자의 관점에서 시니어 여행교육 프로그램에 관한 주관성을 유형화하고 유형 특성을 파악하는 것이다. 23개의 Q표본과 19명의 P표본을 선정한 후, Q 분류를 진행한 결과, 세 개의 유형이 도출되었다. 유형간 긍정적 일치 진술문 분석 결과, ‘효과적 여행 일정’, ‘스마트폰 검색 능력’, ‘수강자가 직접 기획’ 등의 내용이 가장 필수적인 것으로 나타났다. 유형은 ‘여행정보수집형’, ‘관계중시형’, ‘자기탐구테마형’으로 명명하였고, 각 유형별 특성을 기술하였다. 이 연구는 시니어 당사자의 주관성을 파악함으로써 기존 양적연구의 한계를 보완하였고, 관광분야 교육 연구주제와 대상의 범위를 확장하였다. 또한, 실무적으로는 시니어 요구 맞춤형 여행교육 프로그램 개발과 실행에 구체적인 근거를 제공하였다.

Profile of German senior tourists travelling on river cruise ships in the post-COVID period

The German sending market has always been a major priority for domestic tourism in Hungary. For example, before the COVID-19 epidemic, Germany was ranked first among the outbound markets in terms of guest nights spent in commercial accommodation in 2019, with a share of 12.9%. The expenditure of German visitors traveling by Danube River cruise ships is also a determinant factor concerning destinations in Hungary. Due to their prominent role, we aimed to identify the main characteristics and preferences of German senior travellers arriving in Hungary, therefore, following the lifting of the pandemic-related travel restrictions, we conducted a personal survey of German visitors arriving from river cruise ships. Our findings revealed that interpreting 55+-year-old travellers as a homogeneous segment is a misconception, as they are highly heterogeneous. Therefore, we used factor analysis and cluster analysis to identify traveller groups within the segment and also included Barak and Schiffman's (1981) cognitive age scale to partly explain the difference in consumer preferences between self-reported age and chronological age. Linear regression modelling was also used to identify the extent to which differences in sending area location, destination preferences, and travel modes can shape spending. The study provides innovative results, both in theoretical and practical terms. Furthermore, the value of the research is enhanced by the inclusion of the guests of the most prominent German travel agencies in river cruising.

Unequal diffusion of innovation: Focusing on the digital divide in using smartphones for travel

As smartphones have become an essential medium for travel planning and engagement, a large amount of tourism research has investigated how smartphones influence travel experiences. However, such studies have not considered generational differences in the adoption of smartphones. In an aging society where a growing number of senior travelers are required to use smart devices, it is important to comparatively analyze how young and senior travelers adopt smartphones before, during, and after travel from the digital divide perspective. Applying a phenomenological research approach, in-depth qualitative interviews with young and senior travelers who have used smartphones for travel were conducted. The results demonstrate clear empirical evidence on the digital divide as young and senior travelers have different levels of travel interest, planning engagement, independency of travel experiences, and social sharing of travels. This research note provides nuanced insights into the digital divide in the adoption of smartphones for travel.

Digital divide and senior travel consumption: an empirical study from China

ABSTRACT The digital divide in tourism consumption deserves attention. Based on the data from China Family Panel Studies in 2018, we built a Tobit model to explore the impact of the digital divide on elderly tourism consumption. It is found that the elders with low digital access and usage tend to spend lower on tourism. Further research finds that transaction barriers are an important channel for the impact of the digital divide on elderly tourism consumption. The inhibiting effect of the digital divide on senior travel consumption can be reduced when seniors receive more social support from spouses, children, and friends.

Tourism as a Means of Happiness and Subjective Well-Being for Senior Travelers.

Varios estudios han investigado el impacto de las experiencias turísticas en la salud y el bienestar, pero se sabe muy poco sobre los factores psicológicos subyacentes y los mecanismos implicados. Varios investigadores han sugerido que la felicidad y las actividades turísticas están estrechamente vinculadas, pero se ha investigado relativamente poco sobre las posibles conexiones entre el turismo y la felicidad, el bienestar subjetivo (BS) y la calidad de vida, especialmente en el caso de los viajeros de más edad en un mundo que envejece. Desde el punto de vista psicológico, el turismo aporta los mayores beneficios a los viajeros de más edad, ya que el turismo proporciona los medios por los que los adultos mayores pueden buscar la felicidad y sentimientos positivos relacionados con su bienestar y calidad de vida. Esto se debe a que ayuda a mejorar el estado de ánimo, crea una perspectiva positiva y sentimientos positivos de bienestar y alegría para los turistas mayores. Este artículo conceptual se centrará en cómo los viajes contribuyen a los sentimientos de felicidad y bienestar de los turistas de más edad. Las conclusiones proporcionarán una comprensión más profunda de la posible relación entre el turismo y la salud mental, para determinar si el turismo puede afectar positivamente a la vida de las personas, su bienestar y hacer que se sientan felices.

코로나19 팬데믹 상황에서 시니어 여행제약 협상 과정 분석

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the tourism industry as well as the lives of senior travelers. The pandemic imposed a new constraint on seniors who actively planned to travel after retirement, altering their leisure lifestyle. The goal of this research is to delve deeply into the travel constraints and negotiation process of senior travelers during the corona pandemic. In order to achieve the study's goal, in-depth interviews with 9 seniors were conducted and analyzed using the grounded theory method. The analysis produced a total of 51 concepts, 18 subcategories, and 9 categories. During the corona pandemic, the central phenomenon was the recognition of travel constraints, and action/interaction strategies included continuing to travel, engaging in existing leisure activities, and trying new leisure activities. Participants in the study who were restricted from traveling due to the pandemic experienced a positive shift in perception, allowing them to rediscover and appreciate their daily lives, and the path to pursue a leisure lifestyle was divided into travel regression, leisure regression, and leisure diversity. Based on this, a paradigm model was presented, and the core category'moving to a more advanced leisure life through negotiation of travel constraints during the COVID-19 period' was derived. This study is theoretically significant because it thoroughly examined the senior traveler's constraint negotiation process and presented a model for the new phenomenon of a pandemic. Furthermore, the research findings on negotiation strategy, negotiation influencing factors, and type classification have important implications for senior leisure and tourism policies and practices.

Modeling Senior Travelers’ Acceptance of New Transit Systems

This article examines the findings of an investigation of senior travelers’ willingness to use several advanced transit systems. Elderly travelers were surveyed to evaluate their acceptance of a real-time paratransit and several transit information systems. The likelihood of using each system was estimated using the binary probit modelingmethodology. The analysis showed that gender, income, age, type of trips recently made, and several perception-related variables are among the factors that affect the decision to accept the new transportation systems. The study also showed the important potential of several transportation technologies to increase the mobility and alleviate the transportation difficulties of the elderly population. In addition, the results illustrated the willingness of many groups of senior travelers to use new transportation systems in an attempt to reduce their travel problems.

시니어 여행교육 프로그램 개발과 효과 분석

The number of free independent travelers has recently increased. Although seniors want to travel completely independently, it appears that only a small number of seniors do so. There have been various types of travel education programs designed to assist seniors in traveling, but those programs lacked a theoretical framework and comprehensive discussion. A study on establishing a senior travel education model (Lee & Park, 2020) was conducted based on the Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and leisure education model. This paper is a continuation of the research on developing a travel education model for seniors. The first study will use the expert Delphi technique to develop a senior travel education program based on self-determination theory, and the second will use the control group pre-post experimental design to assess the program's effectiveness. The survey and consultation results of 10 expert panelists were used to design an 8-week education program in Study 1. A 6-week online education program was implemented in Study 2 after 13 seniors were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. As a result, the group that participated in the educational program outperformed the control group in all factors (travel perception, travel skills, traveler confidence, and behavioral travel attitude). The effectiveness of the senior travel education program was confirmed. There were both academic and practical implications presented.

Can Senior Travelers Save Japanese Hot Springs? A Psychographic Segmentation of Visitors and Their Intention to Visit Onsen Establishments during COVID-19

To develop tourism products and campaigns that will not just help Japanese hot springs survive but revive and sustain them in the future, it is imperative to understand the behavioral intentions of its visitors during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aims to investigate how the important market of senior Japanese visitors is characterized by their attitudes and feelings toward visiting hot springs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it explores whether external travel incentives can increase seniors’ intention to visit. A market research study was conducted on Japanese nationals, using 507 questionnaires. A factor analysis generated five attitude dimensions: (1) response efficacy, (2) perceived COVID-19 infectability, (3) self-efficacy, (4) crowding perception and feeling, and (5) perceived threat severity. Through k-means cluster analysis, the segmentation produced three distinct tourist segments: trusting seniors, concerned seniors, and indifferent seniors. Each segment is clearly described in terms of attitudes, considering distinct sociodemographic characteristics. Practical suggestions on managing and targeting these segments are also discussed.

Mask-wearing intentions on airplanes during COVID-19 – Application of theory of planned behavior model

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the air transport industry, forcing airlines to take measures to ensure the safety of passengers and crewmembers. Among the many protective measures, mask mandate onboard the airplane is an important one, but travelers' mask-wearing intentions during flight remain uninvestigated especially in the US where mask use is a topic of on-going debate. This study focused on the mask use of airline passengers when they fly during COVID-19, using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to examine the relationship between nine predicting factors and the mask-wearing intention in the aircraft cabin. A survey instrument was developed to collect data from 1124 air travelers on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and the data was statistically analyzed using structural equation modeling and logistic regression. Results showed that attitude, descriptive norms, risk avoidance, and information seeking significantly influenced the travelers' intention to wear a mask during flight in COVID-19. Group analysis further indicated that the four factors influenced mask-wearing intentions differently on young, middle-aged, and senior travelers. It was also found that demographic and travel characteristics including age, education, income, and travel frequency can be used to predict if the airline passenger was willing to pay a large amount to switch to airlines that adopted different mask policies during COVID-19. The findings of this study fill the research gap of air travelers’ intentions to wear a mask when flying during a global pandemic and provide recommendations for mask-wearing policies to help the air transport industry recover from COVID-19.

When words become difficult: a critical reflection of the ‘MeBox’ method in understanding senior travellers’ responses to loss

Multiple dimensions of our experiences such as visual, embodied and sensory experiences cannot always be easily expressed in words. Traditional qualitative methods may struggle to access these deep-rooted complex and emotional aspects. Tourism scholars have called for innovative methodologies to unravel layers of diverse meaning in phenomena. This article critically reflects on a visual tool called the ‘MeBox’. It was adopted in our study to explore senior travellers’ responses to loss following a major life event. The ‘MeBox’ method enabled participants to express embedded and tacit knowledge to reflect on their lived experiences. We critically review the ‘MeBox’ methodology, and provide practical learnings for scholars who may want to adopt this method as a means to understand lived experiences that are difficult to express in words.