Golden Age - Ageing, Well-Being and Tourism

Population ageing is likely to affect the tourism movements especially in Western countries. The importance of seniors for the tourism economy is growing. Nowadays seniors are expected to be more active in domestic tourism and traveling more often abroad than previous generations. However, there are several reasons why ageing people are not traveling as health problems and lack of resources.

The paper clarifies how active travelers ageing people are and it identifies reasons why seniors are not participated in tourism. The main research question is how well self-estimated health predicts the propensity to travel and travel activity is compared with other leisure activities.

The survey questionnaire was distributed to inhabitants of North Savo region (Finland) who turned 60 and 70 in the year 2012. The response rate was 31 %. In total 1827 inhabitants participated in the survey. The survey was named as Aging and well-being in North-Savo as part of the Age Innovation 2012-2014 Project.

According to preliminary results, only 4 percent of respondents answered they did not participate in domestic tourism but 20 percent were not traveling abroad. The older age cohort was traveling less than the younger one as expected. The socio-economic differences are wide in domestic tourism and especially traveling abroad. People traveling often were also more active in other leisure activities. Respondents’ self-estimation of their health predicted the propensity of travelling. Health problems were one main reason why ageing people are not traveling (anymore) but also other factors like lack of money.