CULTURAL BACKGROUND:

DOES IT INFLUENCE MATURE TRAVELERS

EVALUATION OF HOTEL ATTRIBUTES?

Peter Masters
Hotel & Tourism Studies
Siam University
Thailand
Age or Culture?
•Do travellers needs and expectations
change as they get older?

•Are the changes generic between

cultures?

•DOES CULTURE HAVE AN IMPACT?

Increasing Competition for Tourists
 Developing Nations
hailand Has Significant Economic Reliance on Tourism

Versus
Vietnam Is Expanding Economic Reliance on
Tourism
 Allocation of Marketing Budget
Target Specific Sectors of In-Bound Tourists

To successfully market to any demographic

segment understand its important
expectations and desires.
(Gustin & Weaver
1992)
Growing proportion of older people in developed
nations.

Proportion of Population
aged 55 years and over

Japan 35%
Australia 24%
USA 24%
United Kingdom 21%
Europe 20%
South Korea 19%
United Nations Population Division (UNDP) 2005
 METHOD
Asian & Western Mature Age Travelers [55 years & over]

Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok

Questionnaire ~ 35 hotel attributes
Translated ~ English to Japanese, Chinese, Korean
Sample Size ~ 245
 RESULTS
Respondents: n=
245

Western Cultural Heritage

59.18%

Asian Cultural Heritage

40.82%
Western Cultural Heritage
Participants Country of Residence n= 145

Australia & NZ 25%

North America 25%
Britain 23%
Germany 10%
Sweden 8%
Other European 9%
 Asian Cultural
Heritage
Participants Country of Residence n= 100

Malaysia 25%
Japan 18%
Thailand 14%
China (inc. Hong Kong) 14%
South Korea 12%
Singapore 11%
Taiwan 6%
Attributes Considered Most Important
Western and Asian Mature Travellers
Cleanliness
Location
Well-lit public areas
Luggage handling availability
Friendliness of staff
Multilingualism of staff
Airport transportation
Comfort of bed
Street noise or other
Attributes Considered Least Important
Swimming
Western pool Mature Travellers
and Asian
Staff who can explain menu in
detail
24 hour room service
Special dietary menus
Coffee & tea making facilities in
room
Signs and information (in food
outlets)
Early dining hours
Gym
Aimed specifically at mature age
ttributes Considered More Important
Asian Group
Concierge service

Asian participants prefer greater personalized service

Hofstede’s (1980, 1991) cultural dimension: Power Distance

Malaysia (25%) Asian participants & Power Distance
95%
 Attributes Considered More Important
Asian Group
Reputation

Asian participants preferred well known hotels

Hofstede’s cultural dimension: Uncertainty Avoidance Index

Japan 90 % and South Korea 80% [UAI]

ttributes Considered More Important
Western Group

Non-smoking bedrooms
tural Background May Have Less Influence than Other Facto

Parental Tobacco Use

Advertising and the Media
Access to and Cost of Tobacco
Anti-smoking Campaigns
Education
Smoke-Free Environments
Support For Those Attempting to Quit.
 Summary

Important Hotel Attributes

Mature travelers are quite consistent

Irrespective of cultural background

Training of hotel and tourism staff

•Focus on understanding mature travelers

•Importance of specific cultural issues

 Future Research

uestionnaires completed in participants home count

ocal branch meetings- societies of mature people in Britain Callan & Bowman

enior Koreans attending community centres in Seoul Lee & Tideswell (2005)

end questionnaires to members of National Seniors Association

in Australia Ruys & Wei (1998)

• More relaxing environment

• Spend time considering their
responses