Factors affecting destination selection by international senior tourists: A case study of Phuket

Abstract

The research aims to identify factors affecting destination selection in senior tourists (aged 55 and above) travelling to Thailand and to investigate relationship between their personal profiles and factors of destination selection decision. This quantitative research was conducted by distributing 400 questionnaires by face to face survey with international senior tourists who were waiting for outbound flights at the Phuket International Airport. The results show that the highest percentage of international senior tourists were in the age range of 55 to 59 years old. More than half of international senior tourists were repeat visitors and made full travel package arrangement with word of mouth being the most influential information. This study found that the top 5 most important factors when choosing a holiday destination for tourists were price, safety of destination, friendliness of Thai people and Thai food respectively. However, the least three important factors when choosing a holiday destination were availability of private and public transportation at the destination, facilities for tourists at all ages at tourist attraction and access to WIFI. Price is the most important factor that international senior tourists were concerned about. Thai government should set new rules and regulations or policy about this matter and the private sectors are required to follow according to the law. The second most important factor is safety which cover traffic, accessibility of destination, facilities, and transportation. If Thailand mainly focuses on this group of tourists, the country must come up proper plans to reduce safety risks to be at acceptable levels. In addition, healthy senior tourists consider various factors especially price and facilities more important than senior tourists with medical background. The government should build and promote the image of "High quality medical and wellness tourism destination. Finally, to attract the long stay senior tourists, fostering consciousness about environmental preservation among local people as peacefulness of destination is considered important for senior tourists.