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ATLAS annual conference 2014
Tourism, Travel and Leisure
Sources of Wellbeing, Happiness and
Quality of Life
Budapest, Hungary
22-24 October, 2014
Extended abstracts
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ATLAS annual conference 2014
Tourism, Travel and Leisure
Sources of Wellbeing, Happiness and Quality of Life
Budapest, Hungary
22-24 October, 2014
Extended abstracts
ISBN: 978-90-75775-70-9
Content
Sustainable tourism development in Alentejo: Local concerns in a 2014 “must-
see” destination
Inês Boavida-Portugal, Márilisa Coelho
4
Finding Ourselves: revaluing religion, spirituality and tourism
Alan Clarke, Ágnes Raffay
9
Tourism and risk perception and management among senior travellers:
shaping travel patterns and behaviours
Carlos Cardoso Ferreira, Ana Afonso Alcântara
14
Value Exchange while facing the Volunteer Fairytale and a Clash with
individualistic Volunteer Tourists?
Ferdi Klaver
18
Knowing the Unknowable, Controlling the Uncontrollable:
Climate change and tourism around the Balaton
Katalin Lőrincz, Ágnes Raffay, Alan Clarke
22
The impact of socially responsible human resource management on
employee’s well-being in the hospitality industry
Esther Martínez, Joan Sorribes, Dolors Celma
25
The Potential for Wearable Devices in Spa and Wellness Tourism
Matevž Pustišek, Kai Tomasberg, M. Ángeles Oviedo-García
29
Burden or joy? Experiences of tourism entrepreneurship from the viewpoint
of psychological ownership
Hannele Rautamäki
36
Equestrian tourism as a contributor to wellbeing and happiness
Ingibjörg Sigurðardóttir
39
3
Towards a Baltic Health Tourism Cluster
Melanie Smith, Heli Tooman
44
Happy Campers?: Female experiences of family camping holidays and their
contribution to wellbeing.
Karen Soulby
50
Health Tourism in Bulgaria – Demand, Revenues, Customer Satisfaction
Pavel Stoynov, Maria Vodenska
54
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Tourism and risk perception and management among senior
travellers: shaping travel patterns and behaviours
Carlos Cardoso Ferreira
Ana Afonso Alcântara
University of Lisbon
Portugal
carlosferreira@campus.ul.pt
The growth of travel and tourism and the ageing of populations are two megatrends shaping
the face of contemporary societies. While tourism flows are increasing rapidly and
consistently over the last and coming decades (WTO, 2001), thus becoming a major
economic sector and a global phenomenon (WTTC, 2013), ageing is also becoming a pivotal
challenge that need to be addressed in an innovative and multi-dimensional approach.
In fact, there has been an investment in tourism from an increasing number of destinations
worldwide and tourism became a key driver responsible for socio-economic progress, jobs
and enterprises creation and infrastructure development. This true meaning of its multiplier
effect shows that tourism cuts across services such as accommodation, gastronomy,
transport, cultural and recreational facilities, retail, construction and other services sectors
(Eurostat, 2013a).
Due to this large and fast-growing economic sector, in 2013, international tourist arrivals
have grown from 25 million in 1950 to 1087 million and Europe raised 563 million
international tourists (UNWTO, 2014). Besides that, many new destinations have emerged
as competitors to European and North American destinations.
In what concerns to population, it has been changing and its structure is gaining importance
in the political, economic, social and cultural context of demographic behaviour (Eurostat,
2013b) due to its growth and ageing.
Recent studies from Eurostat (2013a) believe that in 2050 there will be about 2,000 million
people over 60 years, thus representing more than 20% of the world population, since people
are living longer and life expectancy continues to increase, despite fertility is increasing
slowly.
Some investigation about the profile of people aged 65 or over highlight both purchasing
power and leisure time, which represents a significant market potential to accomplish
(Eurostat, 2012) and this segment has been established as a priority in policy lines of action
of many countries (Alén et al., 2012). There is clear evidence that the trend towards an
increasing demand for leisure and tourism activities of the elderly population will be, as it is
nowadays, a growing phenomenon in European countries (Ferreira, 1998), and population
ageing is likely to affect the future choice of tourism activities and destinations (Sedgley et al,
2011; Glover & Prideaux, 2009).
The profile of senior tourists is also evolving, as more informed, independent, and active
cohorts reach the upper part of the age pyramids. Besides, having more experience in
tourism makes them more demanding consumers and quite different from the previous
generation (Carvão, 2009).
In the past few years there have been major changes in mentality, habits and society values
which allowed people to shape the world to its own reality and dimension.
As stated before, tourism is a very important industry with huge impact in the economy of the
countries and this position is highly connected with the safety that each country can assure
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to its visitors. Safety is one of the main concerns in the hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943),
also when choosing a holiday destination, so it requires deep thoughts about criminality and
the risk of natural, technological and human behavior disasters (Neves, 2010). Accidents
should be taken in account for further studies, because they are a leading cause of injury,
mortality and morbidity among tourists travelling to foreign destinations (Page & Meyer,
1996). Manning (2005) highlights that tourist, during his decision-making process, decide
based on partial information or on assumptions and images.
While travel associated risks are always present – though different in their nature and
magnitude – in all touristic activities, risk in travel and tourism is an emerging research topic.
However, few studies (Terho, 2013; Le Serre et al, 2013) approach the specifics of the senior
travel market.
Korstanje (2013) compiled a few studies that evidence that people develop different risk
levels while travelling to certain destinations instead of others. These differences depend on
gender (women are more sensitive to risk than men), age, family structure (since family ties
strengthen confidence, people that travel to visit family and relatives consider these
destinations as less dangerous comparing to other tourists), the existence of language,
cultural and/or sanitary gaps and the distance from danger.
According to AICST (2006), the World Tourism Organization identified in 2003 four sources
of risks to the safety and security of visitors, host communities and tourism employees: the
human and institutional environment, tourism and related sectors, individual travelers, and
physical and environmental risks (Table 1).
Table 1: sources of risks to the safety and security of visitors, host communities
and tourism employees
Human and
institutional
environment
These risks exist when visitors fall victim to:
• common delinquency;
• indiscriminate and targeted violence and harassment;
• organized crime;
• terrorism and unlawful interference, hijacking and hostage
taking;
• wars, social conflicts and political and religious unrest; and
• a lack of public and institutional protection services.
Tourism and
Related
Sectors
They can endanger visitors' personal security, physical integrity
and economic interests through:
• poor safety standards in tourism establishments;
• poor sanitation and disrespect for environmental sustainability;
• the absence of protection against unlawful interference, crime
and delinquency at tourism facilities;
• fraud in commercial transactions;
• non-compliance with contracts; and
• industrial disputes by staff.
Individual
Travelers
They can endanger their own safety and security, and those of
their hosts by:
• practicing dangerous sports and leisure activities, dangerous
driving, and consuming unsafe food and drink;
• travelling when in poor health, which deteriorates during the
trip;
• causing conflict and friction with local residents through
inadequate behavior towards the local communities or by breaking
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local laws;
• carrying out illicit or criminal activities;
• visiting dangerous areas; and
• losing personal effects, documents, money, etc, through
carelessness.
Physical and
Environmental
Risks
They can occur if travelers:
• are unaware of the natural characteristics of the destination, in
particular its flora and fauna;
• have not undertaken adequate medical preparations for the trip;
• do not take the necessary precautions when consuming food or
drink or in their personal hygiene; and
• are exposed to dangerous situations arising from the physical
environment.
Source: AICST (2006).
The way risks are perceived and dealt with before and during travel is a major determinant of
the tourist experience (Cater, 2006), thus shaping the overall assessment of tourism
practices. That is the reason why tourism is a very risk-averse activity since it can change
rapidly due to real or perceived risk (Manning, 2005). Besides that, stability is a key factor for
tourism development because any constraint may cause negative impacts in demand, and
tour operators should sell package tours to other (real and/or perceived) safer destinations.
New insights are, therefore, needed on risk perception and risk management among senior
tourists, as it impacts upon the quality, satisfaction and wellbeing associated with their travel.
The main purpose of this exploratory work is to set the framework and bring forward some
key components of risks associated with travel by the seniors, namely perceptions,
influences on the decision-making process (e.g. planning, patterns,…) and the implications
on the expected wellbeing as an outcome of the tourist experience.
The research begins with a theoretical reflection, of conceptualisation and analysis of the key
issues framing the theme under study: tourism trends; characteristics of the senior tourism
market; risk perception and management in travel and tourism.
The second part of the research is empirical and intends to monitor, through the application
of a survey of nearly 100 senior tourists who recently conducted international travel, their
perception of the risks associated with such travel, how those risks have been taken into
account in planning the trip (e.g. destinations, travel patterns, activities), and how it impacted
on the satisfaction and wellbeing obtained from that trip.
Expected research results will provide some insights, drawn from a sample of senior tourists,
about the impact of tourism practices in the wellbeing of the elderly and the influence of risk
factors before, during and after travel.
References
Alén, E., Domínguez, T. & Losada, N. (2012). New Opportunities for the Tourism Market: Senior
Tourism and Accessible Tourism. In Kasimoglu, M. (Ed.) Visions for Global Tourism Industry -
Creating and Sustaining Competitive Strategies (pp. 139-166). Croatia: InTech.
APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism (2006). Tourism Risk Management. An
Authoritative Guide to Managing Crises in Tourism. Singapore: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
Carvão, S. (2009). Tendências do turismo internacional. Exedra, N.º temático – Turismo e Património,
17-31.
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Cater, C. (2006). Playing with risk? participant perceptions of risk and management implications in
adventure tourism. Tourism Management, 27, 317-325.
EUROSTAT (2012). Europeans aged 65+ spent a third more on tourism in 2011 compared with 2006.
Statistics in focus, 43.
EUROSTAT (2013a). Eurostat regional yearbook 2013. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the
European Union.
EUROSTAT (2013b). European social statistics 2013 edition. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the
European Union.
Ferreira, Carlos (1998). Senior Tourists in Urban Environments: an approach to tourism geography
and ageing populations. In Yerpez, Joel (Ed.) La Ville des Vieux: recherche sur une cité à humanizer
(pp. 217-221). Collection Territoire, Éditions de l’Aube.
Glover, P. & Prideaux, B. (2009). Implications of population ageing for the development of tourism
products and destinations. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 15(1), 25-37.
Korstanje, M. E. (2013). Nuevas alternativas para estudiar los riesgos turísticos. Revista Turismo
Visão e Ação – Eletrônica, 15(2), 166–179.
Le Serre, D., Legohérel, P. & Weber, K. (2013). Seniors’ Motivations and Perceived Risks: A Cross-
Cultural Study. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 25(2), 61-79.
Manning, T. (2005). Sustainable Development, Risk Management and Indicators for Tourism
Destinations. Presented at Nagaoka, Japan.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396.
Neves, D. (2010). Turismo e Riscos na Ilha da Madeira. Avaliação, Percepção, Estratégias de
Planeamento e Prevenção. Master Dissertation. Coimbra: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de
Coimbra.
Page, S. J., & Meyer, D. (1996). Tourist accidents an exploratory analysis. Annals of Tourism
Research, 23(3), 666–690.
Sedgley, D., Pritchard, A. & Morgan, N. (2011). Tourism and Ageing. A transformative research
agenda. Annals of Tourism Research, 38 (2), 422–436.
Terho, H. (2013). Senior peoples’ perception of travel related risks – A viewpoint to the future travel
insurance cover. Master’s Thesis. Finalnd: Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences.
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