Introduction

As more people enter their 50s and 60s, mature travellers become more important to the tourism industry, and their importance grows as the segment increases in size and wealth (Reece, 2004). More than half of older adults aged 65+ take a vacation at least once a year (Capella & Greco, 1987). Longer vacations are taken after the age of retirement (Romsa & Blenman, 1989). A large number of trips that older adults take and the magnitude oftrip-related expenditures thatolder adults spendonthe road contribute to the development of the ageing travel market (Fleischer & Pizam, 2002). A combination of the above three major elements, namely, the growing size of potential mature travellers, the spending power of mature consumers, and the availability of spare time, determines the significance of the ageing travel market.

Age is a primary variable that defines the mature travel market: However, there is no uniform terminology of ageing population used in the field of leisure, tourism, and hospitality (Norman et al., 2001). Various age standards (50+, 55+, 60+, or 65+) are used to define the older travellers. In this chapter, older adults, who are at or over 65 years of age, are frequently referred to as ‘mature travellers’ or ‘aged travellers’. The chapter also refers to some other terms frequently used (see Table 12.1).

It has been an ongoing effort for almost 30 years that tourism researchers have tried to understand the mature travel market. Tongren’s study in 1980 on pre and postretirement travel plan changes is regarded as ‘the first serious investigation’ of mature travel (Blazey, 1992: 772). The findings that retirees’ travel activity had an emphasis on family are confirmed by many studies. It is acknowledged in literature that the mature travel market is not homogeneous. Mature travellers have been segmented and profiled based on different variables, e.g. socio-demographic variables, travel motivations, constraints, and benefits (Lehto et al., 2001; Sellick, 2004; Shoemaker, 2000).