Social tourism programmes for the senior market: a benefit segmentation analysis

The senior market has gained increasing interest from the tourism industry, mainly because of its considerable size and time flexibility. However, seniors are also a group facing many constraints to participating in tourism, which has led some countries to promote social tourism programmes for this market. However, little is known about the success of these programmes, while research showing the benefits derived by participants would be useful to continuously improve these initiatives. This paper presents a segmentation analysis of senior participants in a Portuguese social tourism programme, based on benefits derived. A questionnaire-based survey was undertaken, yielding a total of 848 valid responses, which were subjected to a hierarchical cluster analysis. Three clusters emerged: the least benefitted, the most benefitted and active and the highly benefitted and locally socializing seniors. The clusters were compared regarding socio-demographic profile, travel behaviour, satisfaction and loyalty. Several statistically significant differences among the clusters were observable, providing relevant inputs for managing social tourism programmes for this market.