Project Team: Dr. Felicity Kelliher ([email protected]), Dr. Patrick Lynch ([email protected]), Dr. Jamie Power ([email protected]), Ms. Josephine Matthews ([email protected]), Mr. Richard Hickey ([email protected])
This project is funded by Fáilte Ireland’s Applied Research Scheme. It has a lead time of 12 months, and commenced in January 2012.
The Project Aim
While senior tourism is a niche market that caters for older travellers, it is particularly attractive to the tourism industry as these individuals have more disposable income relative to other segments, have a growing propensity to travel and spend, consume in the off-peak, take longer holidays and offer an opportunity for firms to manage and optimize their revenue across the year. However, there are still a number of challenges facing the tourism industry in Kilkenny that is slowing the acceleration of businesses capitalising on senior tourism:
• The motivations, attitudes, lifestyles and behaviours of current and future generations of senior tourists is still largely unknown;
• There is a lack of segmentation knowledge and targeting strategies of senior tourists;
• Lack of comprehensive research detailing their expectations;
• Tailored products is limited;
• Product bundling and communications is not targeted;
• Difficulty in tailoring marketing to match their needs and desires
Methods
This project’s research team designed an innovative work programme that draws upon previous research on tourist segmentation, tourist activities and senior travelers to inform a research design that utilises both qualitative and quantitative interventions to overcome the industry’s challenges to maximise the niche potential of senior tourism. It involves desk analysis, international experience study, product gap analysis, industry interviews and visitor surveys.
Engagement Activity
This research project has emerged from the Strategic Plan and Work Programme of the Destination Kilkenny industry led tourism group. The group identified the potential opportunity of targeting senior tourists. As a consequence, the local authority and industry representatives formed Kilkenny Business Ageing Steering Group’ under Fáilte Ireland’s Destination Kilkenny and the city has been designated as an Age Friendly County by the Ageing Well Network.
Impact
This applied research will make a significant impact to the Irish tourism industry:
• Increases in the number of senior tourists visiting Kilkenny in the off-peak season;
• Enhanced leverage of the culture and heritage appeals to the senior tourist market;
• More focused and tailored segmentation and targeting strategy;
• Service gap analysis for senior markets diminished;
• A focused market strategy with tailored communication messages targets at seniors market;
• The evaluation of international trends to leverage senior tourism best practices;
• Industry representatives will have a deep understanding of the motivations, attitudes, lifestyles and behaviours of senior tourists;
• The potential to extend the pilot to other destinations;
• Case exhibits will be developed to exhibit best practice;
• The dissemination of the applied knowledge in both practitioner-based and peer reviewed academic journals.
RIKON 2013.