Senior Tourists’ Behavior and Expectations Toward Responsible Tourism: Marketing Guidelines for Sustainability

Abstract

The research objectives are (1) to study the travel behavior of senior tourists concerning responsible tourism, (2) to analyze senior tourists' expectations toward responsible tourism, and (3) to examine the influence of senior tourists' behavior and expectations on sustainable marketing guidelines. This study employed a quantitative research methodology, utilizing a questionnaire as the primary data collection tool from a sample of 400 senior tourists who traveled to Kanchanaburi Province. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, namely frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Multiple Regression Analysis.

The descriptive findings reveal that senior tourists highly prioritize and expect factors such as travel safety, accessibility of facilities, and community participation. In terms of behavior, most prefer domestic travel accompanied by family. The results from the Multiple Regression Analysis indicate that the combination of senior tourists' behavior and expectations significantly predicts sustainable marketing guidelines (F = 35.29, p < .001), with a total predictive power of 47.3 (R² = .473). Expectations toward responsible tourism were found to be the most influential factor ( = .362, p < .001). These findings suggest marketing guidelines should emphasize communicating the value of safety, social, and environmental responsibility through easily accessible channels, such as social media, to promote tourism sustainability among the senior demographic.