Segmenting the College Educated Generation Y Health and Wellness Traveler

Abstract

Generation Y is considered to be the next largest cohort group to significantly impact the health and wellness travel industry. This study sought to create a profile of the Gen Y health and wellness traveler using push and pull motivations and perceived wellness. K-means clustering revealed five distinct traveler segments. Wellness was found to be a motivating factor as well as the other internal and external motivators used in this study. Men were found to travel more for escape and women for the nightlife. Opportunities to both seek and avoid contact with others were revealed. Suggestions for future marketing messages for the Gen Y wellness traveler are offered.

Transformative travel as a sustainable market niche for protected areas: a new development, marketing and conservation model

“…Participants in health and wellness experiences in green spaces were predominantly female travellers, aged 18-59 years (Table 1). Participants were often affluent or mediumlevel income earners, highlighting a positive relationship between affluence and interest in health and wellness (Damijanić & Šergo, 2013;Hritz, Sidman, & D'Abundo, 2014;Laesser, 2011). This is unsurprising given current perceptions of wellness as a luxury (Pforr, Hughes, Dawkins, & Gaunt, 2014) and reflects a broader trend identified in the travel literature wherein older people and subsistence income earners appear less likely to take holidays than younger people and medium-/high-level salary earners (Gilbert & Abdullah, 2004).…”

“…Monitoring will provide park agencies with evidence regarding the efficacy of specific experiences in delivering benefits to participants and to the agency; this evidence can be communicated to key stakeholders since the attainment of benefits was linked to key performance measures including visitor satisfaction, destination loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendation (Damijanić & Šergo, 2013;Hritz et al, 2014;Lehto, 2013;Wolf et al, 2015). Comparative studies are needed to establish the market position of proprietary park activities against competing products.…”

The promotion of health tourism products for domestic tourists

“…Health tourism can be defined as the sum of all the benefits that occur from traveling to tourism destinations by individuals interested in promoting, stabilizing, and, when necessary, restoring their physical, mental, and/or social well‐being, by using services that favor health (Chen et al, ; Erfurt & Cooper, ; Hjalager & Konu, ; Hritz et al, ; C. F. Lee, Ou, & Huang, ; K. H. Lee & Lee, ; Sheldon & Bushell, ; Smith & Puckzkó, ). Mueller and Kaufmann () emphasize that health tourism consists of maintaining or promoting health, and that the accommodation chosen for the stay at the destination must focus on wellness services and treatment.…”

“…Health tourism can be defined as the sum of all the benefits that occur from traveling to tourism destinations by individuals interested in promoting, stabilizing, and, when necessary, restoring their physical, mental, and/or social well-being, by using services that favor health (Chen et al, 2014;Erfurt & Cooper, 2009;Hjalager & Konu, 2011;Hritz et al, 2014;C. F. Lee, Ou, & Huang, 2009; K. H. Sheldon & Bushell, 2009;Smith & Puckzkó, 2009).…”

“…The increasing commodification of health care and therapeutic options has led health providers, tourist enterprises, and holiday destinations to develop products and services to cater to this growing demand (Cohen, ; Erfurt & Cooper, ; Hjalager & Flagestad, ; Kucukusta & Heung, ; Lin, ; Yoo, Lee, & Lee, ). Health tourism has become a trend in the international travel and tourism industry, and a fashionable tourist product for a number of reasons including an increased concern about health issues among the middle and upper classes, the promotion of physical, mental, and/or social well‐being, the growing need to cope with work stress, and a perceived need to get away from the routine of everyday life (Chen, Chang, & Tung, ; Hritz, Sidman, & D'Abundo, ; Huijbens, ; Y. C. Lee, ; Stace, Brown, Purushothoman, Scharl, & Weichselbraun, ). Wellness tourism, that includes health tourism, is a near half‐trillion‐dollar market, representing 14% of total global tourism revenues ($3.2 trillion) overall.…”