Factors affecting access and motivations in international retirement migration within the Nordic Countries
Author: Saana Pentikainen
0 Commentries
The population is getting older and the life expectancy is getting higher due to better health care. Especially people from the Nordic Countries tend to live old, and the life expectancy is around 80 years. After the retirement, there are still plenty of years left and increasing number of retirees is taking part to international retirement migration. (Norden, 2013) Many aspects allow the retirees an easy possibility to take part in tourism.
The globalisation has played a key role when it comes to international retirement migration (IRM). In earlier life the retirees have been able to gain knowledge and experiences from abroad, which makes the migration easier. Often the retirees choose a country they previously have visited. (Kinnunen, 2007) The retirees especially in the Nordic Countries are generally wealthy and often do not have anyone they would need to support for. Money is an important factor that allows the retirees to gain access to tourism and international retirement migration. Owning a Scandinavian passport gives wide mobility and access to tourism, since those passports allows the most visa-free entries to foreign countries. (The Henley & Partners, 2014)
The most popular destination to retirees of Nordic Countries since 1960’s has been Spain and especially the coastal area, where today can be found areas, which are dominated by elderly Nordic residents. They have built a community during the decades, which includes for example Nordic schools, shops, newspapers and radio channels. Today the area has spread around the world and some destinations, especially Thailand and Turkey is increasing their popularity among the retirees.
Surely the retirees migrating have different motivations and needs, depending where they come from. In spite of that the main motivation of all of them is to gain better quality of life. (Casado-Diaz, 2006) For retirees from the Nordic Countries the ideal way to achieve that is in a location, which has warmth to help and prevent health issues and the place should also be less expensive than the country of origin in order to get more value for the money. That can quite easily be achieved, since the Nordic Countries are one of the most expensive countries in the world. (Mansikkamäki, 2006)
Compared to German and British retired migrants, the retirees from the Nordic Countries enjoy spending much longer times in the country of origin and spending half of the year there and often still own an apartment there. British and German retirees are not so keen to visit their home country and only visit for one or two weeks annually. (Casado-Diaz, 2006) Summertime in the Nordic Countries is highly valued and differ so much from winter, which makes the retirees to return back home.
There are regular discussions and debates in the Finnish media regarding the international retirement migrants. The general tone of elderly people in the media is respectful and neutral and the same tone can be seen in discussions of IRM. Taxation is one of the most popular themes discussed, in negative and positive way. Positive side encourages the retirees to migrate and thereby avoid the high taxes of Finland. The negative side worries, often from the government’s side, how it will affect the Finnish economy in long-term.
Media emphasises all the positive sides of IRM, for example weather and the carefree and better lifestyle, which encourages other retirees and soon-to-be retirees to consider a potential option for the retirement days. Issues, which the migrants might face, such as alcoholism, loneliness and cultural differences are hardly brought up by the media.
For now, the future looks bright considering the future of the IRM. People are now travelling more than ever (UNWTO, 2013) and gaining knowledge of different cultures, which surely encourages the IRM to grow in the future. The popularity of destinations surely changes during the years by adding up new potential destinations. Since mass tourism is in decline and Casado-Diaz et al (2004) states that the IRM communities are based on mass tourism destinations, the direction of the future destinations can be seen and forecasted simultaneously than the new mass tourism destinations are developed.
References
Casado-Diaz, M. (2006) Retiring to Spain: An analysis of differences among north European nationals. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32 (8). p1321-1339
Blaakilde, A.L. and Nilsson, G (2013). Nordic Seniors on the Move mobility and migration in later life. Lund: Media-Tryck.
Mansikkamäki, M. (2006) Seniorien matkailumotiivit. M.A. Thesis, Jyväskylän Yliopisto, Jyväskylä
The globalisation has played a key role when it comes to international retirement migration (IRM). In earlier life the retirees have been able to gain knowledge and experiences from abroad, which makes the migration easier. Often the retirees choose a country they previously have visited. (Kinnunen, 2007) The retirees especially in the Nordic Countries are generally wealthy and often do not have anyone they would need to support for. Money is an important factor that allows the retirees to gain access to tourism and international retirement migration. Owning a Scandinavian passport gives wide mobility and access to tourism, since those passports allows the most visa-free entries to foreign countries. (The Henley & Partners, 2014)
The most popular destination to retirees of Nordic Countries since 1960’s has been Spain and especially the coastal area, where today can be found areas, which are dominated by elderly Nordic residents. They have built a community during the decades, which includes for example Nordic schools, shops, newspapers and radio channels. Today the area has spread around the world and some destinations, especially Thailand and Turkey is increasing their popularity among the retirees.
Surely the retirees migrating have different motivations and needs, depending where they come from. In spite of that the main motivation of all of them is to gain better quality of life. (Casado-Diaz, 2006) For retirees from the Nordic Countries the ideal way to achieve that is in a location, which has warmth to help and prevent health issues and the place should also be less expensive than the country of origin in order to get more value for the money. That can quite easily be achieved, since the Nordic Countries are one of the most expensive countries in the world. (Mansikkamäki, 2006)
Compared to German and British retired migrants, the retirees from the Nordic Countries enjoy spending much longer times in the country of origin and spending half of the year there and often still own an apartment there. British and German retirees are not so keen to visit their home country and only visit for one or two weeks annually. (Casado-Diaz, 2006) Summertime in the Nordic Countries is highly valued and differ so much from winter, which makes the retirees to return back home.
There are regular discussions and debates in the Finnish media regarding the international retirement migrants. The general tone of elderly people in the media is respectful and neutral and the same tone can be seen in discussions of IRM. Taxation is one of the most popular themes discussed, in negative and positive way. Positive side encourages the retirees to migrate and thereby avoid the high taxes of Finland. The negative side worries, often from the government’s side, how it will affect the Finnish economy in long-term.
Media emphasises all the positive sides of IRM, for example weather and the carefree and better lifestyle, which encourages other retirees and soon-to-be retirees to consider a potential option for the retirement days. Issues, which the migrants might face, such as alcoholism, loneliness and cultural differences are hardly brought up by the media.
For now, the future looks bright considering the future of the IRM. People are now travelling more than ever (UNWTO, 2013) and gaining knowledge of different cultures, which surely encourages the IRM to grow in the future. The popularity of destinations surely changes during the years by adding up new potential destinations. Since mass tourism is in decline and Casado-Diaz et al (2004) states that the IRM communities are based on mass tourism destinations, the direction of the future destinations can be seen and forecasted simultaneously than the new mass tourism destinations are developed.
References
Casado-Diaz, M. (2006) Retiring to Spain: An analysis of differences among north European nationals. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32 (8). p1321-1339
Blaakilde, A.L. and Nilsson, G (2013). Nordic Seniors on the Move mobility and migration in later life. Lund: Media-Tryck.
Mansikkamäki, M. (2006) Seniorien matkailumotiivit. M.A. Thesis, Jyväskylän Yliopisto, Jyväskylä