VITALITIES OF SENIOR CUSTOMERS FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY

Abstract

Since the world population is moving toward aging society. The senior tourists are now so vital for any tourist destinations as well as tourism industry of Thailand. The senior tourists are the group that have high income, have time for their vacation, and often traveling in group. However, there are some special requirements for senior tourists such as special medication and health, slow moving and traveling, and special cares and attention. The objectives of this study focused on the level of satisfaction from the special needs for senior citizens from their perspectives and find ways to improve the needs and wants of the senior tourists. This study was conducted with a mixed method of study by using both quantitative and qualitative research method which aimed to obtain the results of both survey questionnaire and an in-depth interview. About 200 international senior tourists from many different nations were randomly chosen and interview at Suvannabhumi International Airports and about 10 international senior tourists and 10 academics who were specialized in senior tourist. Each group would participate in a small focus group to explain their insight information and valuable comments. Contextual description analysis was utilized to provide the findings for this study. Both primary and secondary information are significant for the analysis. The finding of the study revealed that the senior tourists often had a high expectation and had an overall medium level of satisfaction with the mean of 3.21 and standard deviation of 0.8971. the special needs required by senior citizens included special mode of transportation, emergency assistance in health care, staff with ability in healthcare and language, and special healthy foods. It also found that Thailand is quite ready to offer all of these special needs for senior tourists.