Conceptualizing Senior Tourism Behaviour: A Life Events Approach

Abstract

This article utilizes the context of senior tourism to conceptualize life events and their impacts on tourism behaviour. Life events are markers in the individual life course that can be used to explain the formation of travel patterns. This study adopts a qualitative biographical research methodology to explore the life trajectories and related tourism behaviours of 23 senior citizens in Freising, Germany, to gain an in-depth understanding of how and why tourism behaviour changes across the individual life course. Life events can have a strong impact on tourism behaviour; they can interrupt existing travel patterns or prompt new ones. Life events and their theoretical underpinnings form a largely untouched field in the domain of tourism and represent an area worthy of more extensive research. A better understanding of life events as they relate to tourism behaviours presents opportunities for the tourism industry to develop and design custom-tailored products and services.

Building resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic: the journey of a small entrepreneurial family firm in Brazil

“…Tourist segments may be impacted differently. When it comes to elderly consumers, the effects can be even more severe due to the greater uncertainty associated with postponing a trip (Huber et al. , 2019).…”

Unveiling the antecedents of senior citizens′ behavioural intentions to travel: A mixed-method approach

“…Recently, however, the segment’s capacity for growth as well as the capability of exerting substantial market influence has been acknowledged (Otoo et al, 2021; Sie et al, 2021). The senior tourist market, characterized by a plenitude of discretionary time and money (Leask and Barron, 2021; Huber et al, 2019), is expected to eventually emerge as one of the biggest markets for international travel and tourism businesses (Otoo et al, 2020). The senior tourist market presents innumerable opportunities for tourism businesses not only because of the former’s considerable economic importance and purchasing power, but also because senior tourists tend to travel during off-peak and shoulder seasons (Kim et al, 2015).…”

A Crise Do Covid-19 No Turismo: O Caso Da Café E Viagens

“…Quando se trata de consumidores idososum dos principais segmentos atingidos pela indústria do turismoos impactos podem ser muito maiores, uma vez que esses consumidores podem ter maior dificuldade para transferir uma viagem para o futuro, já que sua atividade turística sofre grande interferência dos eventos da vida, como nascimento de netos, doenças próprias ou de parentes etc. (Huber et al, 2019).…”

“…Como verificaram diversos autores, o lazer pode permitir ao idoso representar diferentes papéis do que os que tradicionalmente lhe eram atribuídos (Araujo, 2015), evitando o sentimento de inutilidade a que podem se entregar (Horton e Hunt, 1981). Dessa forma, os idosos apresentam um processo de reconstrução da identidade através do consumo de lazer e das relações sociais estabelecidas desta forma (Araujo, 2015;Barnhart;Peñaloza, 2013;Huber et al, 2019). Por formarem um grupo de consumidores de turismo particularmente impactado por crises, este segmento foi particularmente atingido pela pandemia do Covid-19, principalmente devido ao potencial de risco dessa população, com direcionamento de ações e estratégias de distanciamento social especificamente para esse grupo.…”

“…Também podem ter maior dificuldade para transferir uma viagem para o futuro, já que sua atividade turística sofre grande interferência dos eventos da vida, como nascimento de netos, doenças próprias ou de parentes etc. (Huber et al, 2019).…”