Motivations to participate in social tourism programmes: a segmentation analysis of the senior market

Abstract

Although tourism is recognized as a major industry worldwide, it is not accessible to all yet. In order to increase seniors' access to tourism, some countries have developed social tourism programmes for this market. However, few studies analyse the relevance and the motivations for participating in these programmes. This paper presents a market segmentation of a Portuguese social tourism programme for seniors based on motivations and a comparison of the resulting segments regarding the following features: socio-demographic profile; travel behaviour; benefits obtained; satisfaction; and loyalty. A questionnaire-based survey yielded 667 valid responses. A K-means cluster analysis was adopted to segment the market, and clusters were compared using ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis, and χ² tests. Three clusters emerged: “the passive seniors”, “the socio-cultural seniors”, and “the active seniors”. Several statistically significant differences among the clusters were detected. The results highlight the importance of social tourism programmes for the senior market.

Keywords::

• social tourism
• seniors
• travel motivations
• segmentation
• Portugal