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Access to Tourism: The Older vs. Younger Generation

Access to Tourism: The Older vs. Younger Generation
Author: Toni Dawn Towle
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The difference of age on access to tourism and whether this effects where you can holiday and if the world is open to all ages and types of people. Age ranges of the different categories are not set in stone however for the purpose of this study the age ranges to be focussed on are 16 to 24s and over 55s which I feel will give the biggest and best age gap for the study of the differences in age on access to tourism.

As people with children have the least amount of disposable income it is relevant to say that the average age for a first time parent in 29.4 in the UK (Nation Master 2012) which means that we are looking at the two ages which have the most disposable income and least responsibility. The age of the birth of the first child, retirement and the life expectancy is relevant to show the amount of time people have to go on holidays which we can then analyze the effect age has on their access to tourism.

The demographics of the worlds population are changing and this is having an effect on the way people live their lives, the population is now living longer so are therefore having more time to spend their retirement days this then means that the population have longer to live their life and this means that older and more types of people are booking holidays all over the world as holidays are more accessible now to everyone but they still cost. 'Over the 90 years covered the expectation of life at birth measured in this way has increased by almost 24.5 years for a boy and 25 years for a girl..... At 60 the increase in expectation is just over 6 years for males and 8 years for females.' (Office of National Statistics 2009)

According to a new survey the older holiday makers are more at risk of dying from malaria than the younger generation of society if they travel to countries with the risk, the risk is not an increase of you chances of getting the disease just your chances of dying from it, 'older holidaymakers who catch malaria are more likely to die from the disease than their younger counterparts a study has found. The research, which is published by the British Medical Journal, highlights the importance of preventative measures for those travelling to risky countries.' (NetDoctor 2012) this research was completed by the British Medical Association in 2012.

Income has a huge bearing on where you travel on holiday generally when you are younger you have the freedom and lack of responsibilities for travelling and to be able to holiday wherever you fancy however they do not have the income to do so, yet the older generation whom tend to have more disposable income have better things to spend there money on other than holidaying they may have responsibility such as children and grandchildren and also a mortgage to pay for, to go travelling for any length of time you need a fine balance of the above but this is not always possible so this will affect where the different age groups can holiday and there are not necessarily just financial restrictions for young people but for the elder generation to and how prominent these are will depend on the access they have to tourism.

According to the daily mail from their money mail (Spero, R 2012) 'older holidaymakers are being charged hundreds of pounds for travel cover as major insurers hike up their premiums for the over 65s. Some travellers are paying up to double for their annual policy, with several High Street insurers increasing prices from £163 to as much as £361….. younger people are also seeing some increases in costs but typically of less than 9%...The effect is that a couple aged 66 and 65 going on a two-week cruise would see premiums soar from £202 last year to £365 this January on its Premier Plus policy, an 80 per cent increase. Annual cover has rocketed from £163 to £361, a staggering 121 per cent.' This increase is staggering and will affect where people travel to no matter what age however the increase for the elderly is so steep that it can put a dent in the original holiday fund.

Overall access to tourism is dependant on age in certain ways and is much harder for the older generation to be able to travel where they would like to go than it is for the younger generation, generally it is the financial side which affects the younger generation whereas it is the actual destination that affects the older generation whether it be for medical, personal, preconception or visa issues that prevent them from travelling it is generally something that will not change and that they cannot change whereas the younger generation can change theirs or can plan to do it later on in life.


References
Carr, N. (2002) Going with the flow: an assessment of the relationship between young people's leisure and holiday behaviour, Tourism Geographies 4,2, 115-134

Collins, D. and Tisdell, C. (2002) Age-related Lifecycles, Annals of Tourism Research 29, 3, 801-818

Lee, C. and D. Conroy (2005) 'Socialisation through consumption: teenagers and the internet' in Australasian Marketing Journal 13, 1, 8-19