Professional Profile of the eSilver Tourism Expert

eSilverTour team has carried out a deep research of the silver tourism market. This research enabled to have a close look at a current situation and find out what are the expectations for the future.

The research is divided in two blocks: needs analysis and desk research.

All findings for the needs analysis stage have been extracted from questionnaires. 269 questionnaires have been collected in total (seniors – 152, 117 – tourism/active aging professionals) in order to have an overview of preferences referring to learning approaches, environments and type of learning activities and, on the other hand, to have a better understanding of expectations and motivations of senior tourists with regard to tourism, travelling and leisure, and deep understanding their current/potential use of ICTs at this regard.

Key findings of the survey are as follows:

Professionals:

would like to improve their hard skills in digital marketing, IT and foreign languages as well as their soft skills in communication, management and capacity to motivate.
are ready to follow a training through an online course, face-to-face course, or blended course to get new competences and therefore to better address seniors’ expectations in tourism industry.
mentioned that marketing adaptations would be needed in infrastructure (economic and technical equipment) as well as in the creation and personalization of travels and destinations to propose offers tailored to senior citizens.

Senior tourists:

state that they were quite well connected and had access to the digital communication tools and to general information.
are comfortable with English language.
are expecting trips and destinations that are adapted to their abilities and their preferences. Travels should be adapted to criteria like personal safety or helpful staff.
travels should be easily accessible, mainly on the seaside with hotel or bed & breakfast offers but and with a variety of places to discover.

COMPILATION OF SURVEYS’ RESULTS

Desk research revealed that when approaching silver tourism, it is crucial to denote that the senior population is not homogeneous. It could vary a lot, either in terms of their demographic weight by region, or in terms of qualifications, interests, health, and financial capacity. This means that the said heterogeneity must be considered to diversify the tourist offer and propose suitable tours that make it possible for all seniors to participate.

A bottom-up approach is also an important factor to consider, especially for dense and sizable tourism structures and institutions. It is important since this kind of approach decentralizes the power, as well as the responsibilities, and focuses on what senior tourists really need.

Key recommendations:

Diversify the offer, so that everyone can join (meet the financial, health possibilities and interests of the senior population).
Have a bottom-up approach, attending that way to the real needs of senior tourists.
Clear silver tourism statistical monitoring procedures and data.
Well-presented silver tourism offers good cases of visibility actions.
Silver tourism strategy with clear actions and financial resources allocated.

COMPILATION OF NATIONAL DESK RESEARCHES