Travel Motivations of Seniors: A Review and a Meta-Analytical Assessment

Quaderni - Working Paper DSE N° 1021

17 Pages Posted: 8 Aug 2015

See all articles by Roberto Patuelli

Roberto Patuelli

University of Bologna - Department of Economics

Peter Nijkamp

VU University of Amsterdam - Department of Spatial Economics; Tinbergen Institute

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Date Written: August 5, 2015

Abstract

Over the past decades, leisure travel has become increasingly popular in older segments of the world population, as a consequence of global factors such as a rise in life expectancy, improved health conditions, a higher disposable income, and increased availability of discretionary time in retirement age. Consequently, researchers have become more interested in studying the motivations for travel of seniors. A number of questions may be raised or have been addressed in the recent past: What are the main factors explaining the traveling choices of seniors? Are their travel motivations different from the ones of the younger population, which have been widely studied in the past? Are geographical differences in terms of motivations comparable between different age groups? Why is senior tourism a topic of particular interest with regard to Asia? In order to answer such questions, in this paper we provide a review of the literature on the travel motivations of seniors. On the basis of 29 articles published on the topic, we provide a qualitative and meta-analytic assessment of past findings, by investigating the dimensions of travel motivations most frequently employed in past seniors surveys. Finally, we discuss a research agenda for further analysis of senior travel motivations and for the integration of this branch of travel research within a wider framework.

Keywords: travel motivations, seniors, literature review, research agenda

JEL Classification: C35, L83

Suggested Citation

Patuelli, Roberto and Nijkamp, Peter, Travel Motivations of Seniors: A Review and a Meta-Analytical Assessment (August 5, 2015). Quaderni - Working Paper DSE N° 1021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2640877 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2640877

Roberto Patuelli (Contact Author)

University of Bologna - Department of Economics ( email )

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Peter Nijkamp

VU University of Amsterdam - Department of Spatial Economics ( email )

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+31 20 4445611 (Fax)

Tinbergen Institute

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Amsterdam, 1082 MS
Netherlands

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