Typology of German senior travelers during the Covid-19 pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15170/MM.2021.56.01.02Keywords:
elderly German travelers, senior tourism, tourism decision makingAbstract
THE AIMS OF THE PAPER
Senior tourism has existed in the public consciousness of the German sending market since the 1970s, but until the turn of the millennium the profession typically regarded it as a niche market. Despite the expanding volume of elderly German travelers, their numbers are constantly eroding in domestic destinations. Their consumer behavior and decision-making within the tourism sector is less studied and typically stereotyped, despite the fact that they are more active and educated compared to previous generations. The segment of elderly travelers can be considered extremely heterogeneous. The main goal of our empirical study was to identify homogeneous groups within the segment and creating a new typology within the segment of elderly German travelers.
METHODOLOGY
The COVID-19 pandemic that erupted in late 2019 brought serious challenges to tourism. During the periods full of closures, the output of the sector converged to zero several times. Already during the period of partial restart, between July and October 2021, a personal interview (PAPI, in-situ) was conducted, where German travelers aged 55 and over were selected. The final sample consisted of 347 elderly German citizens who visited destinations along the Danube in Hungary with the help of a hotel boat. We examined their destination preference and their dominant travel habits in the context of the destination choice decision. With the help of clustering, we looked for well-separated groups, as a result of which 5 clusters were identified in the case of the examined sample.
MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS
Our research results illustrate that it is a mistake to treat the senior travel segment of a given nation in a uniform and homogeneous way, as in addition to socio-economic status, destination expectations and differences in the location of the sending area can all have an impact on tourism consumption.
References
Ajzen, I., and Fishbein, M. (2000), Attitudes and the attitude-behavior relation: „Reasoned and automatic processes”, European Review of Social Psychology, 11 (1), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779943000116
Alén, E., Losada, N., and Domínguez, T. (2016), „The Impact of Ageing on The Tourism Industry: An Approach to the Senior Tourist Profile”, Social Indicator Research, 127, 303-322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0966-x
Baloglu, S., and Uysal, M. (1996), „Market segments of push and pull motivations: A canonical correlation approach”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 8 (3), 32-38. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596119610115989
Behringer, Zs., Tevely, T., Budavári, B., és Hinek, M. (2021), „Utazás a pandémia árnyékában – avagy hogyan változtak a magyar lakosság utazási szokásai, illetve fogyasztói döntései a világjárvány idején”, Turisztikai és Vidékfejlesztési Tanulmányok, 6 (4), 101-114. https://doi.org/10.15170/tvt.2021.06.04.07
Cohen, S. A., Prayag G., and Moital, M. (2014), „Consumer behavior in tourism. Concepts, influences and opportunities”, Current Issues in Tourism, 17. (10), 872-909. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2013.850064
Csóka L., Paic, R., Prisztóka, Gy., Vargáné, Sz.K., Varga, T., és Marton, G. (2021), „A hazai utazási szokások változásai a koronavírus-járvány hatására”, Turisztikai és Vidékfejlesztési Tanulmányok, 6 (4), 16-27. https://doi.org/10.15170/tvt.2021.06.04.02
Decrop, A., and Snelders, D. (2005), „A grounded typology of vacation decision-making”, Tourism Management, 26, 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.11.011
Gonda, T., Raffay, Z. (2021), „A fogyatékossággal élők utazási szokásai”, Turisztikai és Vidékfejlesztési Tanulmányok, 6 (1), 20-38. https://doi.org/10.15170/tvt.2021.06.01.02
Gondos, B. (2021), Travel habits of people with disabilities in Hungary. Selye e-studies, 12 (2), 62-69.
Hegedüs, R. (2021), „Az 50+ korosztály fogyasztói magatartásváltozásai – egy mélyinterjús kutatás eredményei”, Marketing & Menedzsment, 54 (4) 51-61. https://doi.org/10.15170/MM.2020.54.04.04
Kotler, P., Bowen, J.T., Makens, J.C., and Baloglu, S. (2017), Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism. Seventh Global Edition. Harlow: Person Education Limited.
Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., and Setiawan, I. (2021), Marketing 5.0. Technology for Humanity. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Madarász, E. (2017), „Turisztikai fogyasztói magatartás”, Lőrincz, K. – Sulyok, J. (szerk.): Turizmusmarketing. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. 63-98.
Mills, J., and Law, R. (2013), Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Tourism and the Internet. London: Routledge.
Moutinho, L. (1987), „Consumer Behavior in Tourism”, European Journal of Marketing, 21 (10), 5-44. Megtekintve: 2021.09.12. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000004718
Neulinger, Á., Simon, J., Kelemen, K., Hofmeister-Tóth, Á., és Bódi, E. (2010), „Fogyasztói magatartás a hazai utazási szolgáltatások piacán. A hibrid vásárlói magatartás vizsgálata”, Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review, 41 (6), https://doi.org/10.14267/veztud.2010.06.05
Ntounis, N., Parker, C., Skinner, H., Steadman, C., and Warnaby, G. (2022), „Tourism and Hospitality resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from England”, Currenct Issues in Tourism, 25 (1), 46-49. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1883556
Qu, H., and Lee, H. (2011), „Travelers’ social identification and membership behaviors in online travel community”, Tourism Management, 32, 1262-1270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2010.12.002
Pál, E., Törőcsik, M. és Jakopánecz, E. (2017), „Eltérő életkori lehatárolásokból adódó generációk értékeinek empirikus vizsgálata”, Marketing & Menedzsment, 51(3), 18–32. Elérhető: https://journals.lib.pte.hu/index.php/mm/article/view/799 (Elérés: 17 február 2021).
Romsa, G., and Blenman, M. (1989), „Vacation Patterns of the Eldery German”, Annuals of Tourism Research, 16, 178-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(89)90066-2
Schiffman, L. G., and Wisenblit J. L. (2019), Consumer Behaviour, London: Pearson Education Limited. 12th Edition.
Schmidtchen, R., Pataki, V., Trzecinski, S., Serra, M.R., Piepenburg, M., Piel, M., Mignone, N., Basic, A.L., and Vukovic, S. (2021), „European peer counselor training in accessible tourism – Peer Act Innovation for inclusiun in adult training and inclusive tourism”, Turisztikai és Vidékfejlesztési Tanulmányok, 6 (2), 128-145. https://doi.org/10.15170/tvt.2021.06.02.09
Sharma, G.D, Thomas, A. and Paul, J. (2021), „Reviving tourism industry post-COVID-19: A resilience based framework”, Tourism Management Perspectives, 37. January, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100786
Sudbury, L., and Simcock, P. (2009), „Understanding Older Consumers through Cognitive Age and the List of Values: A UK Perspective”, Psychology and Marketing, 26, 22–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20260
Sugatagi, G. (2016), „Ifjúság-, és szeniorkutatás”, Veres, Z. et al. (szerk.) Bevezetés a piackutatásba. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
Szczepkowska, J. (2021), „What are the needs of Senior Tourists? Evidence from Remote Regions of Europe”, Economies, 9 (4), 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies9040148
Swarbrooke, J., and Horner, S. (2004), Consumer Behavior in Tourism. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Megtekintve: 2021.12.26. Online elérhető: http://www.microlinkcolleges.net/elib/files/undergraduate/Tourism%20&%20Hotel%20Management/Consumer%20Behaviour%20In%20Tourism%20(2007).pdf
Swarbrooke, J., and Horner, S. (2020), Consumer Behavior in Tourism. New York: Routledge.
Törőcsik, M. (2011), Fogyasztói magatartás: Insight, trendek, vásárlók. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
Törőcsik, M., Szűcs, K. (2021), Fogyasztói magatartás. Mintázatok, trendek, alkalmazkodás. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. doi: 10.1556/9789634546351 Megtekintve: 2021.10.10. Online elérhető: https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m814fm_0#m814fm_0
Eurostat (2019), Population structure and ageing. Letöltve: 2021.07.01. Online elérhető: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Population_structure_and_ageing/hu&oldid=510196
