Understanding Acculturation in the Senior Tourist Long Stay Experience

Abstract

Seniors, including baby boomers, have become an attractive market for the tourism industry. Accordingly, many destinations have formulated strategies to attract long stay senior tourists. However, there is little research available which examines senior long stay tourists' acculturation to a host destination. Thus, this study sought to seek a better understanding of how senior tourists adapted to one to six week vacations at a popular holiday destination in Thailand. Thirty-one interviews took place in Phuket and reflected three aspects of tourist acculturation to the host destination. The three categories identified were home comfort zone, cultural integration and sense of belonging to host destination, people and culture. A few repeat tourists showed that they enjoyed staying in their comfort zone, which was similar to the first time travellers. However, for most senior tourists, the longer the seniors stayed at the destination, the more they adapted to local culture and displayed a sense of belonging to the host culture. The theoretical and managerial implications of this study are also discussed.