Mature Consumers of Tourism

Some researchers have also paid specific attention to segmentation according to best-agers’ touristic behaviour and preferences, which has resulted in various classifications. One example is Morgan & Levy’s (2002) research on American consumers between the ages of 40-54 and 55+ and the travel activities of these two groups, which suggests 5 types of travellers, according to their travel habits, preferences and behaviour:

• Highway wanderers – characterised by a sense of limited time and money to spend on holidays, wherefore they tend to travel domestically by car or recreational vehicle. They perceive holidays as a time to visit friends and family, which is considered a rational choice when money is scarce. They

26 The inherent values are described in more detail in Wolfe & Snyder’s value portraits (2003:166-169)

tend not to plan ahead very much, and they try to avoid the masses, but enjoy nature instead. They are loyal visitors if they find a place they like, and they do not seek thrills or adventures in other cultures. They rely on travel clubs, such as the AAA, and friends and family for travel information.

• Pampered relaxers – money is not a central consideration, and holidays are perceived as a time to enjoy oneself and be pampered, and not strain oneself physically or mentally. The activities engaged in are e.g. sitting on the beach, visiting theme parks, casinos, shopping or fine dining, most often by themselves. Cruises are one of the preferred types of holidays.

They do plan a bit in advance, although not in great detail, as they often go back to the same place if it works for them, and they prefer flying. They use travel clubs and travel agents.

• Global explorers – There is an inherent need for adventure and to engage in many activities, intellectual and physical, as they seek out new experiences and destinations. A main premise is meeting other people and cultures, and they want authentic, non-touristic, encounters with locals.

They enjoy cruises and all-inclusive packages, and they prefer to meet new people rather than travel with people they already know. Although flexible, they tend to fly on holiday. They are very well informed, as they read extensively about travelling. Generally, they use all kinds of information, and they do tend to plan in some detail. Money is not a problem.

• Independent adventurers – Avoiding crowds and discovering unique places, preferably of great natural beauty, is core, so group travel is out of the question. They do consider costs and look for bargains, but do not mind roughing it when they get what they want, i.e. authentic, adventurous experiences and possibilities for trips to the beach, fine dining and relaxation. They mostly rely on the Internet and insider information, and they are very spontaneous. Travelling with several generations is found appealing, and they prefer flying and possibly car rental.

• Anxious travellers – safety is a determining factor for where and how they travel, thus they rely heavily on information from travel agents. They tend to plan in detail and far in advance to minimise fears of the unknown.

Money is an issue, and thus group travel provides both safety and a bargain. Activities include museum visits and other cultural activities,

although not in the sense of meeting the locals. They expect a relatively high level of service while on holiday, e.g. when dining out. They prefer flying on holiday and are positive towards train travel, but not driving.

As mentioned above, this study was based on two age groups, which were compared by percentage within each type of traveller category to illustrate age related differences. The following figure was provided, also by Morgan & Levy (2002:77), to illustrate this specific purpose:

Figure 3.3

The most conspicuous difference between the age group 40-54 and 55+ is in the category Anxious Travellers, where the 55+ age group is represented by a significantly higher percentage, i.e. 26% as opposed to the 40-54 group of 13%.

In the other categories, the differences are less obvious, but there are slightly more independent and spontaneous types of travellers in the younger age group, i.e. highway wanderers and independent travellers, and the two groups that are less concerned with financial restrictions are the most evenly represented of the two age groups. It has to be stressed though that this is an American study that may be affected by the American context of e.g. types of domestic travel, which is particularly evident in the Highway Wanderers segment, as elements of it seem to be a typical American concept.

It is thereby also implied that results might vary from the American to the European context that is explored in this dissertation, i.e. Danish and English, although at first glance this does not seem to be the case. Although this study

focuses on a slightly different age group (50-65), the 5 types of travellers do comprise elements that concur quite well with the interview data for this study.

For example differentiation between adventure seekers and non-adventure seekers, planners and non-planners, and general purpose of a holiday, such as visiting family and friends, relaxation or a more experiential purpose are factors also evident in the scanning of the data material. Traveller types will therefore be addressed further in the development of the analytical framework.²⁷

The main characteristics of the best-agers as a market segment, and the ways in which they have been approached by researchers have been presented in terms of their relevance to the study at hand. Some main tendencies describe its status at this point:

• A shift has taken place away from youth as the primary market segment of interest, particularly in a tourism context.

• Best-agers are most often divided into sub-segments, which are related to the perceived importance of differentiation being linked to both social and historical processes and life stage segmentation.

• Various segmentation strategies have been applied according to purpose.

This segment also seems to be characterised to some extent by prevailing stereotypes that need to be revised in order to portray the segment adequately.

Widely used segmentation strategies include the basic issues of age and lifestyle, which are linked together in experience, which comes with age, and affect lifestyle choices. These choices again affect further experiences, whereby tourist experiences contained in a travel career might suggest an alternate, more individual segmentation strategy.

A value portraits approach as an alternative was suggested by Wolfe & Snyder (2003), who also suggest that the actual experiences are less important than the values through which they are interpreted, which is also a contention explored throughout this study. Lastly, Morgan & Levy (2002) suggest five types of travellers within the mature consumer market, which may relate to the best-ager

27 See section 6.1.1 Travel Unit Stages

tourists in this project. This will be explored later, when the data material is included in the analytical framework. Beforehand, it will be useful to explore the historical context of tourism in the period that these best-agers have engaged in tourism, considering the contention mentioned above that social and historical processes need to be linked to the segment at hand. Therefore, the following sections will focus on such socio-historical developments within tourism.