Third International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

The elderly population comprises a significant segment of the travel and tourism market, both in terms of purchasing power and size (e.g. Losada, Alén, Domínguez, and Nicolau, 2016). The phenomenon of the aging population ‘guarantees’ that, in terms of size, this specific market segment will continue to be important in the future. But what about the purchasing power of the senior market segment of the future? The senior market of the present is comprised by the baby-boom generation, the most affluent than any other generation (e.g. Dann, 2007). However, the senior markets of the future will be comprised by less affluent generations. For instance, socioeconomic changes, such as reforms in pension systems, over the past few years, have reduced the financial stability of individuals, including seniors, in several countries (Grech, 2013). The paper addresses this issue by focusing on generational shifts in the tourism senior market, and the potential of social tourism programmes to offer a partial solution to this forthcoming problem.