Scholarly Works, Hospitality and Tourism Management

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https://hdl.handle.net/10919/24339
Research articles, presentations, and other scholarship

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Browsing Scholarly Works, Hospitality and Tourism Management by Author "Alen, Elisa"

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    Determinant factors of senior tourists' length of stay
    Alen, Elisa; Nicolau, Juan Luis; Losada, Nieves; Dominguez, Trinidad (Pergamon-Elsevier, 2014-11-01)
    The current tendency to undertake more trips, but of shorter duration, throughout the year, has meant that the tourist industry has started to show greater interest in attracting those market segments that opt for more prolonged stays, as they are especially profitable. One of these segments is that of seniors. Given the aging demographic of the population worldwide, which is particularly noticeable in Spain, the object of this study is to identify the variables that determine the length of stay of Spanish seniors at their destination. The Negative Binomial model was adapted to the context of length of stay by Spanish seniors and the determinant factors identified were: age, travel purpose, climate, type of accommodation, group size, trip type and the activities carried out at the destination. This study is a contribution to this field from an empirical point of view, given the scarcity of studies of this type and their eminently descriptive character; as well as from a practical level, with interesting implications for the sector.
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    Senior tourists' accommodation choices
    Losada, Nieves; Alen, Elisa; Nicolau, Juan Luis; Dominguez, Trinidad (Elsevier, 2017-09-01)
    The current trend towards short-term travelling and reduced spending on accommodation has had a significant impact on the hotel sector. However, the hotel industry is becoming increasingly interested in the senior tourist segment, a population group that prefers hotel-type accommodation to other more inexpensive alternatives, even in periods of economic uncertainty. This paper aims to identify the variables that determine senior tourists’ accommodation choices in Spain. In so doing, it identifies the following variables: length of stay, self-perceived health, self-perceived economic status, self-perceived available time, security/safety at the destination, medical coverage, climate, events and festivals, places of historical/artistic interest, and attractions and natural landscapes. These results have important implications for both the hotel industry and the development of tourist destinations.
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    The Staged Nature of Decision Making among Senior Tourists
    Nicolau, Juan Luis; Losada, Nieves; Alen, Elisa; Dominguez, Trinidad (Sage, 2019-06-05)
    This article builds on the idea that senior tourists’ decision making is a staged process in which the different choices are sequential, interrelated, and interdependent. These decisions are “whether to take a vacation," “whether to opt for an international trip," “whether to use an organized tour," and “whether to use publicly subsidized travel.” Considering the social character of many trips offered to seniors, the fourth decision of the proposed process makes it unique. No research has empirically considered using a staged decision making in the context of senior travelers, and the proposed model quantifies the effect of each variable based on the decision the individual is dealing with; also, the way a variable changes its effect even within the same decision stage depending on the individual is analyzed by including heterogeneity into the modeling. The results find that senior tourists follow the proposed four-staged decision-making process rather than the basic two-stage decision-making process.
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    Travel frequency of seniors tourists
    Losada, Nieves; Alen, Elisa; Dominguez, Trinidad; Nicolau, Juan Luis (Elsevier, 2016-04-01)
    Current demand for tourism is characterized by more frequent, shorter trips throughout the year. Such trends may have adverse effects on the hospitality industry but benefit the travel industry. Most current literature assumes that the variables that determine travel participation are identical to those that influence travel frequency, though there is no evidence to support this assumption. Therefore, the current study seeks to identify variables that influence travel frequency among Spanish senior tourists, who represent a key target market for the tourism industry. The results specify that gender, self-perceived economic status, and self-perceived time available variables strongly determine Spanish seniors' travel frequency.