The growth of ageing populations has seen a popularity surge in seniors travelling for healthy ageing. While senior tourism is stereotypically associated with group travel, our study has identified a novel trend—senior solo travel. Despite the growing prominence, this segment remains under-researched. This paper proposes a healthy ageing travel framework, examining the motivations of senior solo travellers in body, mind, and spirit dimensions. Utilising an exploratory netnographic methodology, the study investigated 13 video blogs (vlogs) on senior solo travel posted by individuals sharing their travel experiences on the YouTube platform, and transcribing using thematic analysis with NVivo generated three main themes and nine sub-thematic motivational components. The results illuminate the intricate interplay of physical comfort, an active lifestyle, autonomy, cognitive stimulation, meaningful connection, and pursuing passion among senior solo travellers. These insights are crucial for developing targeted travel interventions promoting healthy ageing among seniors exploring the world independently.
Academic studies that highlight the importance of customer engagement for sustaining organisational success have generally assumed that engaged customers are a homogenous market segment. This study provides an alternative scholarly perspective by reconsidering the multidimensionality of customer engagement and uses cognitive, affective, and behavioural elements to segment customers. A cluster analysis with data from 574 integrated resort customers in Macau, China supports the three-dimensional structure, and additional analyses show that customers can be segmented into totally-engaged, shallowly-engaged, potentially-engaged, and non-engaged groups based on their psychological investment (which consists of cognitive and affective engagements) and behavioural engagement. The findings both address the dimensional structure of customer engagement in the market segmentation context and provide some valuable theoretical and market segment-related managerial implications.
This study investigated the effect of tour leader playfulness on the quality of interactions between tour members and leaders, tour leader attachment, and tour member delight. The study employed a cross-level approach by considering the perspectives of both tour leaders and tour members participating in group package tours. A questionnaire survey was conducted to obtain insights from both perspectives. A total of 54 sets of samples (including 54 tour leaders and 520 tour members) were collected. The results demonstrated that tour leader playfulness had a positive effect on tour member delight, interaction quality, and tour leader attachment. Furthermore, the study validated the mediating effects of interaction quality and tour leader attachment. By integrating social exchange theory with dramaturgy theory, group dynamics, and attachment theory, this study extends the theoretical gap in research on tour guide playfulness. Practical suggestions for tourism operators and managers are also provided.