Bestager Tourism can save the future of the sector

 
Especially in Europe, the rate of the aging population in the total population is increasing and people have more free time and financial means; The fact that the elderly population, who is more flexible in using their savings, has more potential to create tourism reveals that "third age tourism" is important for the future of the sector.

But everything depends on whether this potential can be used correctly. First of all, clichéd targets in marketing policies should be abandoned as soon as possible.
The increasing aging of the population in industrialized Western countries due to rising living standards has important consequences, especially in economic and social terms. French author Frédéric Serrière, in his book titled "Conquérir le marché des Seniors / Capturing the Third Age Market", which will be released in October 2003, emphasizes that tourism is one of the areas that will be most affected by the aging of the population, and points out that the elderly population has a serious potential for the future of the tourism sector. .

Research shows that the effects of population aging on tourism activities will be much greater than sector representatives expect. According to Serrière, when determining the target audience, it is of great importance to distinguish between "young and old people" who are still working, newly retired people and the older population; because the holiday preferences of the three groups in question differ from each other. For example, the population over the age of 65 considers the concepts of holiday and entertainment as new "inventions". However, it seems that even the population over the age of 65 has recently given more importance to their personal needs and within this framework, there has been an increase in the rate of going on vacation. The consumption habits of the elderly population who continue their working lives are similar to young people.

A large portion of the elderly population prefers to spend their holidays domestically with their families or friends.

The first data to consider is that the elderly population, who have more free time and financial means, and who are at least more flexible in using their savings, tend to go on holiday mainly within the country. The ages of people who choose to go abroad vary between 50 and 55. The holiday period of the elderly population is longer than that of young people and working people. However, unlike young people, most of the elderly population spends their holidays at their family or friends' homes. For example, a study conducted in France reveals that only one tenth of the elderly population spends their holidays in a hotel.

The means of transportation preferred by the elderly population when going on holiday are cars, trains and planes.