| Author: | Wan, Fangzhou |
| Title: | Chinese seniors’ domestic travel motivations from generational cohort perspective : evidence from fourth- and fifth-tier cities |
| Advisors: | Hsu, Cathy (SHTM) |
| Degree: | DHTM |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Subject: | Tourism -- China Older people -- Travel Tourism -- Psychological aspects Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | School of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | vi, 222 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Aging as an emerging global issue calls for more care and concern regarding elderly people, so that they may be healthier and happier in the later stages of their lives. China, as one of the world’s most populated countries, is turning into an aging society. To respond to the call for “healthy aging,” the Chinese central government has appealed for social support from different industries. The tourism industry is labeled as a “happiness industry.” As domestic tourism emerges and the number of senior tourists in China increases, it is necessary for tourism stakeholders to work together and capitalize on the “silver economy” to achieve a “win-win” by encouraging more seniors to get involved in “happy” experiences, which will contribute to economic growth in the tourism sector. The recent phenomenon of the increasing number of Chinese seniors who have started to pursue domestic travel necessitates understanding of the underlying reasons why Chinese senior tourists travel. To answer the “why” question, one must understand Chinese seniors’ travel motivations. Although travel motivation has been studied for years, the most widely adopted travel motivation theories were borrowed from other disciplines, and they have varied balances of advantages and disadvantages. Extant research on Chinese senior tourists’ travel motivations has primarily focused on outbound and niche tourism and on populations residing in mega cities, whereas fourth-and fifth-tier cities, which are home to 82% of the national population, have been neglected in domestic tourism research. Furthermore, although gerontology theories have suggested generational cohort segmentation in senior studies, extant research has mostly taken seniors as a homogeneous and unsegmented group. Additionally, amidst the ramifications of the global COVID-19 pandemic, domestic tourism has resumed earlier than outbound travel. Against this backdrop, to respond to the global and national call to contribute to “healthy aging,” this study explored the domestic travel motivations of Chinese senior tourists residing in fourth-and fifth-tier cities from the generational cohort perspective. Following the social constructivism paradigm, a qualitative approach was adopted. Guided by integrated means–end chain (MEC) theory and push–pull theory, 45 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. A list of domestic travel motivations was generated for each of the three senior generational cohorts: post-40s, post-50s, and post-60s. A push–pull means–end chain (PMEC) framework was proposed for each cohort, indicating the direct and indirect linkages between the motivation codes on multiple levels. Common and unique features were highlighted to enable comparison of the three cohorts’ PMECs. It was found that Chinese post-40s, post-50s, and post-60s preferred to travel to first-time visit destinations and that they were attracted to famous destinations and/or those with beautiful scenery. Post-40s preferred to travel to red destinations and were price sensitive with respect to travel products and services given the persistence of this cohort’s youth poverty and suffering effect. Post-50s were inclined to travel domestically because of their temporal consciousness (i.e., the race with time, or wanting to travel while they are still able); that is, this cohort’s psychological self-cognition changes as relationship needs emerge. As household pillars, post-60s preferred to travel domestically in order to please both their families and themselves. Both traditional and contemporary Chinese cultural values were reflected in each cohort’s PMECs. Hence, a comprehensive domestic travel motivation framework was proposed under the theoretical guidance of integrated MEC theory and push–pull theory. The research findings presented here have contributed to the theoretical advancement of travel motivation studies. Integrated MEC theory and push–pull theory can be employed as a theoretical foundation for exploring travel motivations from a deeper multilevel perspective. Future senior tourist motivation studies can utilize the comprehensive travel motivation framework proposed in this paper. Practically, the research findings could be helpful to tourism stakeholders, including tourism suppliers, destination marketing organizations (DMOs), senior tourists and their families, and government policymakers in terms of focusing precisely on senior tourists’ travel needs and motivations on different levels and pooling the wisdom and efforts from each side in order to contribute to “healthy aging” and the domestic tourism economy. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7306.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 5.68 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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