Aging Population: Challenge or Goldmine for Tourism Industry
Author: Julia Anttonen
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It is commonly known that in the modern times the proportion of older people is dramatically increasing and this change is having major implications on global markets since demographic shift towards older generation will change the needs of the average consumer and this in turn will cause an overall change on the demand for products and services. But how will it affect the tourism industry? And more importantly, is tourism industry ready to face these changes? This paper will provide answer to these questions and consider whether the changes will lead to negative or positive effects for the tourism industry.
Over the last two decades, due to globalisation, tourism became accessible for most of the people, especially middle-class, and as a consequence the mass tourism appeared and the tourism industry became one the biggest industries in the world. Even though tourism became more accessible for the majorities and it was easier to travel, some social groups, such as people with disabilities and seniors were generally undervalued and overlooked by the tourism market because they used to represent a minority with low economic power. However, because of the decrease in birth-rate around the world and the consequent growth in the number of elderly people, this situation got a new turn and now the seniors have become a broad and important group with benefits that other groups cannot offer to the tourism industry.
According to United Nations (2012) projections, the number of persons aged 60 years or above will grow from 810 million in 2012 to nearly 2 billion by the year 2050, which means that every fifth person will be in this age group. Such a dramatic change in the age structure is already having major impacts on the world’s economy and over the time it will be more and more evident. These impacts will certainly influence the tourism industry since, besides of the growing amount, they have better health, available income, no family obligations, and more free time which allows them to travel more often and for longer periods of time. All of these characteristics will turn this growing segment into a very lucrative targeting market, which means that tourism marketers need to adapt their strategies according to the specific needs and demands from this heterogeneous group. It is also important to understand that aside from the physical access, elderly people may have a problem with lack of accessible information, which in turn can leave them without participation. Nowadays, Internet is tightly linked with tourism, since most of the travel information is obtained through the internet while the grown people are still on the process of learning how to handle and use the virtual technologies like computers or internet.
Currently, many countries in Europe have recognised a goldmine from including minorities like seniors into tourism market. Consequently, the importance of social tourism, which aims to include people with limited capabilities or disability in recreational activities are growing (Minnaert et. al. 2011). Due to the fact that elderly are no longer active in workforce, they can travel throughout the year, which in turn can help countries with the high seasonality to increase tourist activity in the mid and low seasons. As a result, countries such as Spain are considering senior market as a solution for solving its problem of seasonality in tourism.
Despite the importance of including older persons in tourism is growing, it is still a relatively new segment that is poorly studied and mistakenly segmented. One of the main problems is that in carried studies, seniors has been usually generalized and subjected to stereotypes, which was based on their age (Sedgley, 2011). Generally, older people are seen as a poor in health and socially isolated group of society, which led to the lack of provision of diverse range activities and tourist destination. However, nowadays these statements can be considered as out-dated, because current generation is wealthier and much healthier thanks to advanced medicine. Moreover, Patterson (2006) highlights that this group is heterogeneous and all of them are individuals who have their specific needs and expectations. Thus, it is essential to study this market more profoundly to be able to provide an appropriate tourism product, which will cover their requirements.
Another feature that need to be taken account, is that people who had reached 50 years and over, do not want a holidays classified as “for the seniorsâ€. It is important for them to not feel excluded from the rest population just because of their age. Even though older people would be likely to choose accommodation without access boundaries, many of them do not want it to look like a retirement centre (Kroneberg, 2008) . Undoubtedly there is some elderly who would like to have these specific “only for seniors†hotels where everything would be included, with the quiet environment and special entertaiment program.
To sum up the foregoing, the tourism industry is beginning to adapt to the senior market, which is growing in its importance. Ye there is still a need to study more deeply demands of elderly people for satisfying such a broad market. However, it is expected that in the future it would be necessary that all the tourism industry will create barrier-free environment with modified products and services, which are based on the needs and likes of these groups in order to receive the benefits that only they can offer.
References
Kronenberg, C (2008). Change Management in Tourism: From "old" to "new" Tourism. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag GmbH & Co KG
Sedgley, D., Pritchard, A., Morgan, N. (2011). TOURISM AND AGEING: A transformative research agenda. Annals of Tourism Research. 38 (2), p422–436.
Patterson, R., I (2006). Growing Older: Tourism and Leisure Behaviour of Older Adults. Oxfordshire: CABI.
Over the last two decades, due to globalisation, tourism became accessible for most of the people, especially middle-class, and as a consequence the mass tourism appeared and the tourism industry became one the biggest industries in the world. Even though tourism became more accessible for the majorities and it was easier to travel, some social groups, such as people with disabilities and seniors were generally undervalued and overlooked by the tourism market because they used to represent a minority with low economic power. However, because of the decrease in birth-rate around the world and the consequent growth in the number of elderly people, this situation got a new turn and now the seniors have become a broad and important group with benefits that other groups cannot offer to the tourism industry.
According to United Nations (2012) projections, the number of persons aged 60 years or above will grow from 810 million in 2012 to nearly 2 billion by the year 2050, which means that every fifth person will be in this age group. Such a dramatic change in the age structure is already having major impacts on the world’s economy and over the time it will be more and more evident. These impacts will certainly influence the tourism industry since, besides of the growing amount, they have better health, available income, no family obligations, and more free time which allows them to travel more often and for longer periods of time. All of these characteristics will turn this growing segment into a very lucrative targeting market, which means that tourism marketers need to adapt their strategies according to the specific needs and demands from this heterogeneous group. It is also important to understand that aside from the physical access, elderly people may have a problem with lack of accessible information, which in turn can leave them without participation. Nowadays, Internet is tightly linked with tourism, since most of the travel information is obtained through the internet while the grown people are still on the process of learning how to handle and use the virtual technologies like computers or internet.
Currently, many countries in Europe have recognised a goldmine from including minorities like seniors into tourism market. Consequently, the importance of social tourism, which aims to include people with limited capabilities or disability in recreational activities are growing (Minnaert et. al. 2011). Due to the fact that elderly are no longer active in workforce, they can travel throughout the year, which in turn can help countries with the high seasonality to increase tourist activity in the mid and low seasons. As a result, countries such as Spain are considering senior market as a solution for solving its problem of seasonality in tourism.
Despite the importance of including older persons in tourism is growing, it is still a relatively new segment that is poorly studied and mistakenly segmented. One of the main problems is that in carried studies, seniors has been usually generalized and subjected to stereotypes, which was based on their age (Sedgley, 2011). Generally, older people are seen as a poor in health and socially isolated group of society, which led to the lack of provision of diverse range activities and tourist destination. However, nowadays these statements can be considered as out-dated, because current generation is wealthier and much healthier thanks to advanced medicine. Moreover, Patterson (2006) highlights that this group is heterogeneous and all of them are individuals who have their specific needs and expectations. Thus, it is essential to study this market more profoundly to be able to provide an appropriate tourism product, which will cover their requirements.
Another feature that need to be taken account, is that people who had reached 50 years and over, do not want a holidays classified as “for the seniorsâ€. It is important for them to not feel excluded from the rest population just because of their age. Even though older people would be likely to choose accommodation without access boundaries, many of them do not want it to look like a retirement centre (Kroneberg, 2008) . Undoubtedly there is some elderly who would like to have these specific “only for seniors†hotels where everything would be included, with the quiet environment and special entertaiment program.
To sum up the foregoing, the tourism industry is beginning to adapt to the senior market, which is growing in its importance. Ye there is still a need to study more deeply demands of elderly people for satisfying such a broad market. However, it is expected that in the future it would be necessary that all the tourism industry will create barrier-free environment with modified products and services, which are based on the needs and likes of these groups in order to receive the benefits that only they can offer.
References
Kronenberg, C (2008). Change Management in Tourism: From "old" to "new" Tourism. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag GmbH & Co KG
Sedgley, D., Pritchard, A., Morgan, N. (2011). TOURISM AND AGEING: A transformative research agenda. Annals of Tourism Research. 38 (2), p422–436.
Patterson, R., I (2006). Growing Older: Tourism and Leisure Behaviour of Older Adults. Oxfordshire: CABI.