[Keywords:] silver-haired tourism market; Development strategy; Tourism consumption
[China Library Classification Number] f590.8 [Document Identification Number] B [Document Number] 2095-3283 (2012) 07-0078-02
About the author: Bao Cailian (1972-), female, associate professor of Liaoning University of International Business and Economics, research direction: tourism education and tourism management in colleges and universities; Zhou Yong (1962-), male, associate professor of Dalian Ocean University, research direction: economic management in universities.
I. Introduction
With the rapid development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, tourism has not only become a common leisure way for young people, but also more and more "silver-haired people" have joined it. Old-age tourism is becoming a new growth point in the tourism market, and "silver-haired people" have become a group that cannot be ignored in the tourism market. According to the statistics of China Association for the Aged, China is the country with the largest elderly population in the world, and the number is increasing year by year. The silver-haired tourism market has great development potential (table 1).
Second, the demand characteristics and travel habits of silver-haired tourists
(1) Pay attention to health and pursue quality of life.
The elderly in cities have relatively high education level, stable retirement income and abundant savings. This elderly group is knowledgeable, practical, health-oriented and cherishes life. They often don't like noisy cities, but prefer nature, and like to take part in relaxing activities such as fishing, camping, vacation and sunbathing. Take Dalian as an example. The beautiful forest parks and quiet resorts around Dalian are very popular with the elderly. Laotieshan Hot Spring in Lushunkou District has become a frequent place for elderly tourists.
(two) the price of tourism products requires economic benefits.
Most elderly people want tourism products to be cheaper, not too expensive. This is because these elderly people live in difficult economic times and have developed the habit of thrift, and will not waste too much on tourism. Therefore, affordable and moderate prices are still the demands of most elderly people.
(3) I like to travel in the off-season, and the travel time is relatively free.
The elderly have more leisure time at their disposal, but because they are afraid of crowding, they choose to travel more in the off-season, which can better appreciate the beautiful scenery and reduce a lot of unnecessary troubles. Therefore, travel agencies can try their best to reduce the quotation, so as to attract more elderly tourists and maximize profits.
Third, the strategy of developing the silver-haired tourism market
(A) the development of tourism products with the characteristics of the elderly.
1. Enrich the form and connotation of "Silver Hair Tour"
The content of silver-haired tourism is mainly enriched by tourism products such as scenery tour, sightseeing tour, ecological tour, popular science tour, city tour, farmhouse tour, holiday tour, golden wedding tour and silver wedding tour. At the same time, some special tours can be set up, such as nostalgia tour, family tour, root-seeking tour, old place tour and so on.
2. Design more tourism products suitable for health care, rehabilitation and recuperation of the elderly.
Hot springs and seaside places have fresh air and abundant sunshine, which is of great benefit to the treatment, rest and recovery of diseases of the elderly. Tourism enterprises can develop the market according to the needs of the elderly, increase health tourism projects, and offer health tourism, rehabilitation tourism and other tourism products.
Improve service quality and provide targeted services.
1. Carefully arrange and design the tour route.
It is necessary to create a unique style that combines long-term and short-term, combines affordable tourism with luxury tourism, focuses on affordable tourism, combines traditional tourism with characteristic tourism, and focuses on characteristic tourism. It is necessary to "walk less and watch more", "walk slowly and safely" and "have good quality and low price", and pay more attention to the communication between the elderly, so that silver-haired tourism can truly become a beneficial activity integrating leisure, fitness and health.
2. Create a friendly sightseeing atmosphere
Because the elderly attach importance to feelings and family ties, we should inject strong emotional factors into the silver-haired tourism service to create a harmonious atmosphere of family ties, so that the elderly can still feel family-like care and care during the travel process.
3. Provide targeted services for the elderly.
The gastrointestinal function of the elderly is relatively weak, especially when the environment changes obviously, which is more likely to cause digestive dysfunction. At the same time, some people suffer from diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and so on. Therefore, in the diet arrangement of the elderly, we should try our best to arrange fragrant, crisp, soft, low-sugar, high-nutrition, digestible and chewy foods, and it is appropriate to be light, less greasy and less spicy. At the same time, tour guides need to remind elderly tourists to pay special attention to diet and food hygiene during the trip, and it is not easy to eat too fast or too full, drink less or not.
(C) Tourism enterprises should correctly segment the market and find a correct positioning.
For tourism enterprises, the purpose of market segmentation is to design silver-haired tourism products in a targeted manner. The elderly are a special consumer group. Old people of different ages, regions and income levels have different characteristics, and their consumption needs are also different. Therefore, by subdividing the source market of silver-haired tourists, travel agencies can find the target market of silver-haired tourists that suits them. At the same time, through market segmentation, we can also grasp the real needs of elderly tourism consumers, and then more accurately locate and design silver-haired tourism products, develop tourism products that meet the needs of the silver-haired tourism market, and build silver-haired tourism brands, thus enhancing the overall image of tourism enterprises and driving other tourists to join.
(D) Tourism administrative departments should attach importance to the development of silver-haired tourism.
Tourism administrative departments should pay full attention to the important role of silver-haired tourism in the overall development of tourism, give appropriate preferential policies, and strengthen the construction of tourism market regulations to create a good social environment for the development of silver-haired tourism. At the same time, not only the tourism administration department, but also other relevant government departments should actively play the role of public service, support and encourage tourism enterprises to explore the silver-haired tourism market and better serve the elderly.
(e) Strengthen the links between travel agencies.
Every travel agency should combine with other travel agencies on the basis of developing its own advantages to make up for its own disadvantages and form a win-win situation. This can not only expand the target market of tourists to a certain extent, but also reduce the cost of travel agencies, expand the scale and influence of travel agencies, and enhance the market competitiveness of tourism enterprises.
(6) Cultivate silver-haired tourism talents in various ways.
In order to better serve silver-haired tourists, tourism enterprises should conduct professional training for tour guides from time to time. Experts who are familiar with the psychology and needs of the elderly can be invited to give systematic guidance and training to tour guides to improve their personal quality and ability. In addition, tourism enterprises can cooperate with major tourism colleges and universities to cultivate tourism talents with silver-haired tourism professional quality, and enrich them into enterprises after graduation. At the same time, preferential measures can be formulated to attract high-quality tourism professionals to join, create development space for them and retain professionals.
[References]?
[1] Li shunfang. On the strategy of expanding the tourism market for the elderly [J]. Journal of Minxi Vocational University, 2004(2):28-29.
[2] Li Fei. China silver-haired tourism market [J]. Cooperative Economy and Technology, 2008(7).
(Editor: Dong Bowen)