Creating New Relationships Through Tourism: A Qualitative Analysis of Tourist Motivations of Older Individuals in Japan

Abstract

The current study is an exploration to examine older Japanese individuals' motivations for travel. The study employed an open-ended survey and in-depth interviews in order to gain insight into the creation of human relationships through tourism. Our results show that tourism is perceived as offering extraordinary opportunities to meet new people, and to form and develop new relationships by Japanese older individuals, who experience fewer opportunities to interact with other people in their everyday lives compared to individuals in younger generations. In particular, distinct features of tourism settings, such as liminality and touristic communitas, allow older tourists to express themselves more freely by escaping from their existing relationships as well as from many social norms, hierarchies, and prohibitions.

Australian students’ activity preferences, perceived physical risk and interest in vacationing in Japan

“…These factors drive international student segment's interest in visiting Japan. Foreign cultural activities are popular to experience generally (McKercher et al, 2002) and within Japan (Ryu et al, 2015). Culture is also identified as Japan's key competitive strength (World Economic Forum, 2017) and cultural activities such as historic sites and cuisine are focused on Japanese marketing communication material such as DMO websites and social network sites such as Pinterest (Song and Kim, 2016).…”

Understanding the Dimensionality and Underlying Nature of Senior Overseas Travel Motivations

“…Knowledge seeking emphasizes travel for enlightenment and understanding. Specific examples are knowledge seeking or enhancement (Wang et al, 2017); learning (Ryu et al, 2015); intellectual enlightenment (L. Huang & Tsai, 2003); and education (Norman et al, 2001).…”

“…Another notable motivational factor is hedonism, which refers to the desire for seniors to travel for certain hedonic and sensation-seeking purposes. Such experiences include sensation seeking (Lu et al, 2016); recreation (Ryu et al, 2015); pleasure seeking (Lu et al, 2016); excitement and invigoration (Muller & O’Cass, 2001); and entertainment (Carneiro et al, 2013; Lu et al, 2016). For instance, hedonism is a major travel push factor among the elderly in Japan (Ryu et al, 2015).…”

Impacts of Leisure and Tourism on the Elderly’s Quality of Life in Intimacy: A Comparative Study in Japan

“…The social role of leisure and tourism in maintaining the elderly's QOL has been neglected in the context of Japan, let alone the depopulated areas. There were a few studies regarding elderly tourism activities in Japan, but only about profiling or explaining senior tourists' characteristics, and tourist motivations for the purpose of better tourism marketing [72,73]. However, whether tourism would enhance the elderly's QOL mentally is still unknown.…”