The group package tour design for the elderly: Perspectives from travel agencies

• Main Authors: Wan-ChiTseng, 曾琬淇
• Other Authors: Sheng-Yu Fan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/92676293425078318762

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 老年學研究所 === 103 === Most literatures of elder travel focused on constraints, motivations and influences from elders’ perspectives. Few literatures explored elder travel and group package tour from travel agencies’ perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the travel agencies’ considerations about the group package tour design for the elder travelers. The study used snowball sampling and semi-structured interview to collect data. The results formed three themes: the impacts of the characteristics of the elderly on the travel, the strategies of the travel agencies, and the developments toward the future senior market. keywords: elders, group package tour, tour design travel agencies. INTRODUCTION With the increase of the aging population and the importance of leisure activities, traveling plays a significant role for the elderly in the rest of their lives. The literatures about the elder travelers mostly focused on constraints and motivations of travel, however, with the lack of the viewpoints for the travel agencies. Hence, the aims of this study were to investigate the travel agencies’ experiences and perspectives about the group package tour design for the elder travelers. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study used snowball sampling and 11 travel agencies with the experience of leading the elderly group package tour were recruited. The study used semi-structured interview to collect data. The interview guidelines included: (1) the experiences and difficulties for designing and leading elderly travel, (2) the specific concerns of group package tour for the elderly travelers, and (3) the developmental strategies toward the future senior tourism market. Data analysis was based on the principles of the grounded theory. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Three themes were identified. (1) The impacts of the characteristics of the elderly on the travel: the deterioration of health and functions, psychological traits, the differences of demographic variables, and social interaction. (2) The strategies of the travel agencies: considering the deterioration of health and functions for tour design, and improving the skills of the travel agencies for satisfying the needs of the elder travelers. (3) The developments toward the future senior market: the travel agencies focused on the segmentations of senior market, and expected that the government reduce the constraints of the travel environments. CONCLUSION When conducting the tour design, safety and medicine are the primary concerns. The travel agencies should consider the physical, psychological, and social aspects of the elderly. Furthermore, the future senior market is toward the market segmentation. The travel agencies will segment different market according to the interests, age or other variables of the elder travelers. The travel agencies provide the appropriate tour designs for different travel markets. The government can build more accessible spaces and support the elder travel in policy.