Original Scientific Article
Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
among Silver Hair Tourists
Mihaela Kežman
Alma Mater Europaea
mihaela.kezman@gmail.com
Jana Goriup
Alma Mater Europaea
jana.goriup@almamater.si
Demographic changes are visible in many areas of life, including tourism. Silver
hair tourism is on the rise and this target group is becoming an increasingly impor-
tant segment of the tourism market. The market for silver hair tourists is growing.
They have high purchasing power, relatively higher than younger groups. Therefore,
tourism needs to respond to new demographic challenges in society, such as popu-
lation aging and active longevity, with new types and forms of tourism. The travel
experience of silver hair tourists also has a significant impact on the quality and sat-
isfaction of life in general. In many ways it adds value in the life of elderly adults,
in the field of well-being, gaining new experiences, learning, expanding the social
network, improving health and much more. Therefore, knowing the demographic
characteristics of silver hair tourists is all the more important and necessary for the
creation of good tourist offers.Within this paper we have conducted a survey among
silver hair tourists aged between 65 and 75 years inclusive. Data was collected in
Multigenerational Centres across Slovenia with a paper-pencil survey. We obtained
405 valid questionnaires. In the analysis of empirical data, we looked for statisti-
cally significant differences in five socio-demographic and economic variables. We
found statistically significant differences between men and women and between the
age groups of silver hair tourists regarding the choice of tourism activities. In terms
of demographic factors such as education, income and assessment of health status,
we find a connection between tourism activities and demography. Travel raises the
quality of life of ‘silver hair tourists,’ so it is important to offer them programs that
will be more tailored to them. This article provides some answers that can help us
create programmes like that.
Keywords: silver hair tourists, tourist activities, elderly tourism, demography
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.381-395
Introduction
Demographic changes that have become our constant
(Webster & Ivanov, 2020) are an important social and
economic challenge. Active age encompasses the in-
clusion of elderly adults in tourism, which, among
other important factors, affects the health and well-
being of elderly adults. On the other hand, the mod-
ern phenomenon of tourism for elderly adults rep-
resents a new challenge, new opportunities and new
products for the tourism industry. The modern world
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 381
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
has also brought a new, modern term to the world of
tourism for elderly adults – ‘silver hair tourists.’ This is
both the naming of elderly tourists over 65 (Patterson,
2017), as well as a trend that has been strongly per-
ceived in tourism over the last decade, especially due
to its many positive effects: sociability and social in-
clusion, well-being, higher self-confidence, new expe-
riences, health, education and many others (Medarić
et al., 2017).
Demographic changes are very pronounced in Eu-
rope. The European Commission (Evropska komisija,
2021) estimated that the proportion of people aged 65
and over in Europe will increase from around 20 to
30 by 2070. Thus, European countries are facing the
challenges of demographic change in many areas, in-
cluding tourism. Little attention has been paid to silver
hair tourism in the past, as it is a relatively new phe-
nomenon in tourism, but it is increasing from year to
year (Bai et al., 2001; Peceny Starc et al., 2019; Schröder
& Widmann, 2007). At the same time, we found out
that this is an area that has not been significantly re-
searched. Therefore, knowing the characteristics and
demographics of silver hair tourists is very important.
Especially if we consider that, despite the aging soci-
ety and silver hair tourists as an increasingly important
segment in tourism, in some European countries there
is no travel agency dedicated exclusively to silver hair
tourists, this is an even more current topic.
However, this opens up new demands in the future
for tourism actors regarding to tourism innovation for
silver hair tourists. As Hjalager (2002) pointed out, in-
novation in tourism for silver hair tourists depends
not only on research and political aspirations but also
on silver hair tourists themselves as customers, on lo-
cal people and local communities, to which tourism
must respond with new solutions – a different innova-
tion in two directions: an attempt to reduce costs and
an attempt to create demand for the silver hair tourists
through innovation. Therefore, it is necessary to cre-
ate a unique approach that offers silver hair tourists all
the positive points of a particular destination, which
requires optimal (pre)research of the destination and
preparation and an appropriate methodological ap-
proach. In any case, innovation in tourism for sil-
ver hair tourists is conditioned by professional and
promotional support, financial resources and innova-
tion of all stakeholders who are in any way related to
tourism for silver hair tourists. According to Hjalager
(2002), there are four types of innovation in tourism
for silver hair tourists: (1) innovation at the product
level for silver hair tourists, (2) innovation at the pro-
cess level, (3) innovation on themanagement side, and
(4) logistics innovation with special regard to silver
hair tourists, who are a rather heterogeneous group
(Schänzel & Yeoman, 2015), with needs and expecta-
tions that differ according to age, health status, social
and family differences and economic status (Vujović
et al. 2015). The travel market for silver hair tourists
has now become a global phenomenon (Jang & Wu,
2006).
Demographic Change
The World and European population is growing and
aging faster than ever. Due to a long-standing trend of
low birth rates and ever-increasing life expectancy, we
are facing an accelerated aging process, and associated
challenges and opportunities in the developed world
(Coale & Hoover, 2015; Samir & Lutz, 2017). In 2001,
16 of people in the EuropeanUnionwere over the age
of 65, in 2018 it was 19.7, of which 5.6 were over the
age of 80 (Eurostat, n.d.). The share of adults aged 65
and over in 2019 was already 20.4 of the total pop-
ulation. Population projections show that this share
will continue to increase, reaching 24.4 in 2030 and
29.6 in 2050 (Eurostat, 2020). In 2018, young people
(under 14) accounted for 15.6 of the eu-28 average,
while able-bodied people (aged 15–64) accounted for
64.7 of the population (Eurostat, n.d.). This brings
new challenges for silver hair tourists and their fami-
lies, as well as for tourism for the elderly. However, we
must also emphasize that the elderly are a rather het-
erogeneous group (Zsarnoczky, 2016).
The current aging of the population is already hav-
ing visible consequences for demographic dynamics
(Reynaud & Miccoli, 2019), as the growing number
and share of the elderly in society poses a number
of economic challenges. Life expectancy began to in-
crease around 1840 at a rate of almost 2.5 years per
decade (Vaupel et al., 2021). The main reasons for
the extension are the improvement of socio-economic
382 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
living conditions, higher education, better healthcare
and lifestyle (umar, 2021). Higo and Khan (2015), on
the other hand, presented aging population trends as
a cause that is likely to lead to inequality between re-
gions of the world in the coming decades. Such a de-
mographic shift will either create or increase risks in
tourism, especially for vulnerable populations such as
silver hair tourists.
Aging and an aging population also require soci-
eties to adapt their systems and attitudes towards ag-
ing and old age (Dimovski, 2011) in the field of tourism
(Bai et al., 2001). In recent decades, there has been a
revolution in human reproduction that consists of sev-
eral components, with implications for travel, tourism,
and hospitality (Webster, 2019).
Seniors in Tourism
Tourism is the movement and interaction of peo-
ple outside their everyday environment (Juvan et al.,
2021). Tourism shapes the lifestyle of hosts and visitors
(Sharpley, 2014). The number of tourists has increased
over the years (Peceny Starc et al., 2019), partly because
of silver hair tourists, so tourismmust respond to new
demographic challenges in society, such as aging and
active longevity, with new types and forms of tourism
and new service technologies (Nikitina & Vorontsova,
2015). We need to understand that this needs to hap-
pen although the travel habits of silver hair tourists are
quite rigid (Lohmann & Danielsson, 2001). We also
need to know the heterogeneity of silver hair tourists
(Zsarnoczky, 2016), because the category of older peo-
ple within themselves is becoming increasingly het-
erogeneous in their abilities and interests (Goriup &
Lahe 2018, 25). Bai et al. (2001) therefore predict that as
the proportion of elderly adults increases, so will the
proportion of silver hair tourists, which has already
reached record numbers in the United States. Silver
hair tourists also represent a large market, as they
have high purchasing power, relatively higher than
younger groups (Alén et al., 2016). Societal change
will also affect tourism and travel patterns, so it is
crucial that tourism providers have a thorough un-
derstanding of this market segment and how it will
change consumption patterns in the future (Patterson
& Balderas, 2020). Therefore, tourism for silver hair
tourists must take into account the characteristics of
silver hair tourists, product design, marketing, desti-
nations and agingmanagement, and intergenerational
cooperation.
Hsu et al. (2007) found that themainmotivation of
older people to engage in tourism consists of:
• external conditions,which include social progress,
personal finances, time and health, of which per-
sonal finances and time are shaped according to
family obligations and responsibilities; and
• inner desires,which include better well-being, es-
caping routines, socializing, seeking knowledge,
pride and patriotism, personal reward, and nos-
talgia.
Alén et al. (2016) reveal that tourism for the silver
hair tourists is particularly, and even more, leisure-
oriented than for other generations. Silver hair tourists
therefore want and expect quality, suitable and safe
offers, with comfortable transport, relaxing activi-
ties and the highest possible level of comfort. On
the other hand, a smaller number of family mem-
bers means a higher level of consumption per per-
son. Silver hair tourists today are healthier than in the
past, have higher incomes, more time to travel, and a
high tendency to travel long distances (Litrell et al.,
2004). Silver hair tourism therefore has great poten-
tial (Macuh & Raspor, 2020) and at the same time
travel is a way for all people to spend their free time.
Leisure tourism is an important industry that has been
greatly changed by the growing presence of older peo-
ple around the world (Stončikaitė 2021, 2). After re-
tirement, therefore, most elderly adults devote their
free time to various interests and tourism is one of the
priorities (Oliveira et al., 2018). For a group of silver
hair tourists aged 65 to 79, Möller et al. (2007) argue
that they are characterized by many who have recently
retired and joined a time-rich group. They used their
past savings to cover running costs. The health aware-
ness of this group is high and if they do not have seri-
ous health problems, they decide to travel and spend
more on quality goods and services. That is why silver
hair tourists represent a growing potential, not only in
the elderly in good mental and physical condition, but
also thosewho are already in an Elderly home (Macuh,
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 383
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
2020). Silver hair tourists can also be actively involved
in tourism with a lower financial base, as there are
many activities that are affordable and otherwise very
accessible to the elderly, and also through various re-
tirement societies (Macuh & Raspor, 2020).
Demographic Characteristics of Silver Hair Tourists
The number of silver hair tourists is increasing, but at
the same time this category is becoming increasingly
heterogeneous (Goriup & Lahe, 2018), with needs and
expectations differing in age, health, social and fam-
ily differences and economic status (Birsa et al., 2015).
Many travel companies do not consider the charac-
teristics and concerns of silver hair tourists and the
different ways in which they enjoy tourism (Patterson
&Balderas, 2020). The health of silver hair tourists has
a significant impact on the decision to buy a tourism
product, but the impact of gender is not negligible.
Lehto et al. (2001) found that women focus more
on opportunities to socialize and interact with peo-
ple and their families than men while travelling. In
2018, the share of older men (aged 65+) in the eu-
28 who rated their health as good or very good, was
43.1, which was 6.6 percentage points higher than
the corresponding share of older women 36.5 (Eu-
rostat, 2020). This is also why the wto estimates that
by 2050 there will be more than 2 billion international
passengers aged 60 +, compared to 593 million in 1999
(World Tourism Organization, 2007). According to
Shavanddasht (2018), ‘young grandparents’ weremore
eager for novelty and enjoyable vacations,while ‘safety’
and ‘improving knowledge’ were the main intentions
of older grandparents vacationing with their grand-
children.
Silver hair tourists want to enjoy and are willing to
pay a high price for high quality services (Möller et al.,
2007). Raspor (2018) argues that elderly adults today
generally have higher incomes than previous genera-
tions, so they will invest more money in leisure activ-
ities, which will only increase the share of silver hair
tourists. Fitzpatrick Associates (1998) says that mainly
because they often inherit from parents or relatives;
their children leave home, which alleviates the finan-
cial burden; they have relatively little or nomortgages;
their capital can be released and they may have sav-
ings, pensions, and may have pension or savings ‘pil-
lars’ in addition to state pensions.
Špindler (2018) found that the generation of sil-
ver hair tourists also differs from other generations in
terms of the scale of values, and that they also respond
differently in tourism because they live and practice
their own values. The change in the values of gen-
erations of silver hair tourists is also reflected in the
field of tourism, in the direction of regaining the im-
portance of intangible values, which in the past we
thought were lost: authenticity, which we perceived as
a trend, and regional and quality expectations at all
levels, as also noted by Petavs (2011).
Senior tourism is, however, nevertheless included
in social tourism, and the term also covers all con-
cepts and phenomena related to the participation of
low-income social groups in tourism (Markiewicz-
Patkowska et al., 2019). In the study of social tourism
for the silver hair tourists, the silver hair tourists were
divided into four groups: (1) the silver hair tourists,
who have a low socio-economic status and who can-
not afford a holiday. These are often involved in some
humanitarian programme such as the Red Cross, etc.;
(2) the silver hair tourists who need special infrastruc-
ture adaptations; (3) the silver hair tourists for whom
special programmes have been designed and adapted;
and (4) the silver hair tourists who do not need special
adaptations or conditions (Medarić et al., 2017).
Tourism Products for Silver Hair Tourists
Tourism for silver hair tourists in many ways adds
value in the life of elderly adults. It broadens hori-
zons and offers experimental learning (Minnaert et
al., 2009), as tourism activities for silver hair tourists
are opportunities to explore new environments and
integrate into new activities, meet new people and
face unexpected problems that affect their views, at-
titudes and behaviour (example of self-confidence).
Offering silver hair tourists opportunities for social in-
teraction (McCabe et al., 2010; Minnaert et al., 2009)
has an impact on their sociability and social inclusion,
health and education (Medarić et al., 2017). Through
tourism, silver hair tourists travel to explore their
identity, learn, socialize and have fun (Osvaldo et al.,
2020), they experience new people and new places,
384 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
change perspectives and broaden mental and psy-
chological horizons (Minnaert & Schapmans, 2009).
This is one of the reasons whyWeiermair andMathies
(2004) stated that more active leisure activities, more
frequent travel and the changing needs of silver hair
tourists encourage the development of new products.
The offer of tourist activities for silver hair tourists is
not optimal given the demographic changes we have
detected. Current (social, health and political) prob-
lems and problems of tourism for silver hair tourists,
given their socio-economic status and general pop-
ulation, can be overcome by increasing motivation
and creating formal solutions in the field of access to
tourism services for them with the participation of
the general population and research experts. In order
to play a leading role in the competitive travel indus-
try, tourism activity providers need to monitor mo-
tivational changes and trends and improve their un-
derstanding and consideration of silver hair tourists.
The greater the knowledge of these trends in tourism
development in general and the higher market seg-
ment of silver hair tourists in particular, the greater the
ability of these stakeholders to formulate clear strate-
gies, contribute to new and innovative services and
gain a competitive advantage for their organizations
and regions (Patterson & Balderas, 2020). Therefore,
through this article we wanted to investigate how the
selection of tourist activities of silver hair tourists with
their grandchildren is influenced by some selected
socio-demographic and economic data.
Methodology
Research Question and Hypotheses
Silver tourists differ greatly in lifestyle, income, prefer-
ences, health, and age segmentation, which are impor-
tant in the design of tourism services and the design of
marketing plans. As it is important that we know the
target group of silver hair tourists well, we were inter-
ested in the socio-demographic and economic charac-
teristics of silver hair tourists who are engaged in given
tourist activities. Based on this, we set the following re-
search hypotheses, as follows:
h1 Among tourism activities, elderly women are
statistically significantly more likely to choose
those activities that involve less dynamics, than
elderly men.
h2 Older silver hair tourists are more likely to opt
for leisurely tourist activities, compared to youn-
ger silver hair tourists.
h3 Those silver hair tourists with a higher level of
education are more likely to choose tourism ac-
tivities that develop cultural capital compared to
those silver tourists who have a lower level of ed-
ucation.
h4 Those silver hair tourists with a lower personal
monthly income aremore likely to choose afford-
able tourism activities compared to silver haired
tourists with higher levels of monthly personal
income.
h5 Silver hair tourists with a higher assessment of
their health condition more often choose dy-
namic tourist activities compared to those that
evaluated their own health condition as not so
good.
Sample
According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of
Slovenia (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, n.d.), as
of 31 December 2020 there were 250,631 people aged
between 65 and 75 living in Slovenia. To ensure the
representativeness of the sample of the entire popula-
tion, we calculated theminimum number of question-
naires needed to achieve representativeness per 384 re-
spondents, opting for a 95 level of confidence and
5 confidence interval. Sampling was occasional and
we ensured representativeness in at least three indica-
tors based among socio-demographic and economic
indicators. Thus, the characteristics from the sample
can be transferred or inferred to the entire population
(Hannan & Freeman, 1977).
In the empirical part of the research, in order to
control the amount of data and ensure the represen-
tativeness of the sample to the entire population, we
included silver hair tourists in the age group 65 and up
to 75 years, whichwas divided into two groups: 65 to 69
years and from 70 to 75 years of all statistical regions.
The obtained empirical data, which were collected
in Multigenerational Centres in Slovenia, in activi-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 385
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
ties attended by silver hair tourists, were entered into
appropriate computer databases and processed using
Excel and spss for Windows. Respondents voluntar-
ily filled out printed questionnaires, for which they
received instructions, as well as any additional ex-
planations. Data collection took place from April to
September 2021. During this time, 435 questionnaires
were collected, but 30 incompletely completed ques-
tionnaires were excluded from further processing.
Validity and Reliability of the Sample
Upon obtaining 405 valid questionnaires, we wanted
to check the representativeness of the sample. We first
checked this with the kurtosis and skewness. For gen-
der, the skewness is –0.250 and the kurtosis is –1.947.
For the age variable, the skewness is 0.122 and the kur-
tosis is 1.202. For the urbanization variable ‘Living en-
vironment,’ the skewness is 0.791 and the kurtosis is
–0.921.
The representativeness of the sample was then cal-
culated in comparison with the population using the
chi-square goodness of fit test (χ2), which showed a
value of 2.324 for the variable sex (at the degree of free-
dom df = 1) and a significance of p = 0.127. For the age
level, the chi-square goodness of fit test showed a value
of 17.331 (at freedom level df = 10) and a significance
of p = 0.067. In urbanization, the chi-square goodness
of fit test showed a value of 0.892 (at a degree of free-
dom df = 1) and a significance of p = 0.345. The value
of the chi-square goodness of fit test of the distribution
at the significance of 0.05 or 5 is 3.8415 for variables
with one (1) degree of freedom (variable gender and
urbanization) and for variables with ten (10) degrees
of freedom (variable age) 18.307 (Košmelj & Rovan,
1997). Thus, based on the obtained results, we can con-
firm that the sample obtained during the research is
valid and also representative of the entire population.
Socio-Demographic and Economic Characteristics
of the Sample
The data in Table 1 shows that 405 (100) surveyed sil-
ver hair tourists were included in the sample, of which
177 (43.7) were men and 227 (56.0) were women; 1
(0.3) respondent did not provide an answer to this
question. Regarding age, in the age group from 65 to
Table 1 Socio-Demographic and Economic
Characteristics of the Sample
Variable n 
Gender of the respondent
Male  .
Female  .
No answer  .
Age of the respondent
From  to  years inclusive  .
From  to  years inclusive  .
No answer  .
Living environment
Urban environment  .
Rural environment  .
No answer  .
Level of education
Primary school or less  .
Vocational high school  .
High school  .
Higher professional degree  .
University degree  .
Master’s degree or doctorate  .
No answer  .
Personal monthly net income
Up to    .
From   to    .
From   to    .
Over    .
No answer  .
Assessment of health status
Pretty bad  .
Good  .
Pretty good  .
Very good  .
No answer  .
69 years 201 (49.6) respondents were included, and
in the age group from 70 to 75 years 203 (50.1) re-
spondents were included. 1 (0.3) respondent did not
give an answer to this question. Regarding the level of
386 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Tourist Activities of Silver
Hair Tourists
Tourist activity () () () ()
Spending time by shores, lakes
or pools
 . . .
Visiting national parks  . . .
Visiting amusement and theme
parks
 . . .
Visiting small towns and vil-
lages
 . . .
Tours of big cities  . . .
Getting to know the locals  . . .
Visiting friends and relatives  . . .
Spiritual and religious activities  . . .
Visiting historical sights  . . .
Visiting galleries and museums  . . .
Visiting cultural events  . . .
Participation in local festivals  . . .
Photography and recording  . . .
Sitting in cafes  . . .
Exploring local cuisine  . . .
Shopping  . . .
Experiencing nightlife  . . .
Casinos  . . .
Watch selected content on tv  . . .
Reading books and magazines  . . .
Playing board games  . . .
Group sports activities  . . .
Individual sports activities  . . .
Attending matches  . . .
Visiting health resorts  . . .
Cruises  . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) sample, (2)
mean value, (3) standard deviation, (4) median.
education, 122 (30.1) respondents with a high school
education predominate. The most common personal
monthly income of respondents was between 601 €
and 900 €, 172 (42.5) respondents. When assessing
one’s own health condition, respondents most often
assessed it as good, 207 (51.1).
Table 3 Statistically Significant Differences of Silver Hair
Tourists in the Choice of Tourist Activities
According to Gender
Tourist activity U p Mean rank
() ()
Tours of big cities . . . .
Reading books
and magazines
. . . .
Playing board
games
. . . .
Individual sports
activities
. . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1)male, (2) female.
Descriptive Statistics of Variables
From Table 2 we can see that according to the 26
selected tourist activities of the surveyed silver hair
tourists, the highest mean value was reached by the
variable ‘Visiting friends and relatives’ (3.88), followed
by the tourist activity ‘Reading books and magazines’
with the mean value of 3.54 and ‘Playing board games
(cards, chess . . .),’ with the mean value of 3.38. The
lowest mean values were achieved by the tourist ac-
tivities ‘Experiencing nightlife’ with the mean value of
1.55, ‘Cruise,’ with a mean value of 1.38 and ‘Casinos,’
with the mean value of 1.33.
Statistically Significant Differences in Activities
According to Demographic Parameters
We were first interested in statistically significant dif-
ferences between the selected tourist activities of the
surveyed silver hair tourists according to gender. Due
to the uneven distribution of variables, we performed
an analysis using theMann-Whitney test, which found
statistically significant differences between respon-
dents by gender according to selected tourism activi-
ties of silver hair tourists.
From Table 3 we can see that there are statistically
significant differences by gender in four tourist ac-
tivities, where p < 0.05. In ‘Tours of big cities,’ men
rated this tourist activity lower (mean rank = 170.34)
than women (mean rank = 196.13). In ‘Reading books
and magazines,’ men also rated this tourist activity
lower (mean rank = 180.21) thanwomen (mean rank =
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 387
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 4 Statistically Significant Differences of Silver Hair
Tourists in the Choice of Tourist Activities
According to Age
Tourist activity U p Mean rank
() ()
Spending time by
shores, lakes or
pools
. . . .
Photography and
recording
. . . .
Playing board
games
. . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) 65–69 years, (2)
70–75 years.
205.39). Also in ‘Playing board games (cards, chess . . .),’
men rated this tourist activity lower (mean rank =
178.62) than women (mean rank = 200.98). In the last
tourist activity ‘Individual sports activities,’ men rated
this tourist activity lower (mean rank = 171.31) than
women (mean rank = 193.18).
We found that out of 26 tourist activities, statis-
tically significant differences were detected in only
four tourist activities. In all four, men rated the given
tourist activities lower than women. Next, we were in-
terested in statistically significant differences of silver
hair tourists according to age groups. Here, too, we
used the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test due to
the uneven distribution of variables.
FromTable 4 we can understand that by age groups
there are statistically significant differences in the three
tourist activities, where p < 0.05. Thus, we found that
respondents from the first age group (65–69 years)
rate all tourist activities higher than respondents from
the second age group (70–75 years): ‘Spending time
by shores, lakes or pools,’ ‘Photography and recording’
and ‘Playing board games (cards, chess . . .).’
We were also interested in statistically significant
differences of the surveyed silver hair tourists accord-
ing to education.With theKruskalWallis test, we anal-
ysed the differences between the level of education and
the selection of certain tourist activities.
Based on the obtained empirical data from Ta-
ble 5, we found statistically significant differences in
the level of education of the respondents and selected
tourist activities in nine tourist activities (p < 0.05). In
the tourist activity ‘Visiting national parks’ we found
the highest score among surveyed silver hair tourists
with a master’s degree and doctorate (mean rank =
297.72), and the lowest score among respondents with
completed vocational high school (mean rank =
158.52). In the case of ‘Spiritual and religious activi-
ties,’ we found the highest score among the surveyed
silver hair tourists with completed vocational high
school (mean rank = 197.95) and the lowest among
those with university (mean rank = 150.04) educa-
tion. In ‘Visiting historical sights,’ the lowest grade was
noted among respondents with primary school edu-
cation or less (mean rank = 114.57), while the highest
grade was found among respondents with university
education (mean rank = 212.46). Also, ‘Visits to gal-
leries and museums’ stands out as the lowest rated
activity among respondents with primary education
or less (mean rank = 131.62), while the highest score
was found among respondents with university edu-
cation (mean rank = 218.22). ‘Visits to cultural events
(concerts, theatres)’ were rated the lowest among re-
spondents with primary education or less (mean rank
= 130.23) and the highest among respondents with uni-
versity education (mean rank = 208.80). In the tourist
activity ‘Photography and recording,’ we found the
lowest score among respondents with primary school
or less (mean rank = 124.86) and then the score in-
creased until the highest education of master’s degree
and doctorate (mean rank = 218.31). In ‘Shopping’ we
found the lowest score among respondents with a uni-
versity degree (mean rank = 142.81) and the highest
score among respondentswith a high school education
(mean rank = 209.82). ‘Reading books and magazines’
was rated the lowest by respondents with primary
school education or less (mean rank = 139.36) and the
highest by those with university education (mean rank
= 240.32). ‘Individual sports activities’ were rated the
lowest by respondents with primary school education
or less (mean rank = 112.54) and the highest by respon-
dents with a master’s degree or doctorate (mean rank
= 251.44).
We found that with the increase in the education
of the respondents, the assessment of tourist activities
388 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 5 Relationship between the Level of Education of Silver Hair Tourists and the Selection of Tourist Activities
Tourist activity H p Mean rank
() () () () () ()
Visiting national parks . . . . . . . .
Spiritual and religious activities . . . . . . . .
Visiting historical sights . . . . . . . .
Visiting galleries and museums . . . . . . . .
Visiting cultural events (concerts, theatres) . . . . . . . .
Photography and recording . . . . . . . .
Shopping . . . . . . . .
Reading books and magazines . . . . . . . .
Individual sports activities . . . . . . . .
Notes Column heading are as follows: (1) primary school or less, (2) vocational high school, (3) high school, (4) higher
professional degree, (5) university, (6) master’s degree or doctorate.
Table 6 Relationship between the Monthly Income of Silver Hair Tourists and Tourist Activities
Tourist activity H p Mean rank
() () () ()
Spiritual and religious activities . . . . . .
Visiting historical sights . . . . . .
Visiting galleries and museums . . . . . .
Photography and recording . . . . . .
Individual sports activities . . . . . .
Visiting health resorts . . . . . .
Notes Column heading are as follows: (1) up to 600 €, (2) from 601 € to 900 €, (3) from 901 € to 1200 €, (4) over 1201 €.
also increased. Exceptions are ‘Spiritual and religious
activities,’ where the grade decreased with education,
and ‘Shopping,’ with a non-linear distribution of the
grade.
We were also interested in statistically significant
differences of the surveyed silver hair tourists accord-
ing to income. With the Kruskal Wallis test, we anal-
ysed the differences based on income and the selection
of certain tourist activities.
Table 6 shows that between the monthly income of
surveyed silver hair tourists and selected tourist activi-
ties, there are statistically significant differenceswithin
six tourist activities (p < 0.05). In the case of ‘Spiritual
and religious activities,’ the increase in monthly in-
come decreased the tourist activity of respondents,
with the highest score for silver hair tourists with
a monthly income from 601 € to 900 € (mean rank
= 184.64) and the lowest score for respondents with
a monthly income above 1201 €. ‘Visiting historical
sights’ was rated the lowest by respondents with a
monthly income of up to 600 € (mean rank = 138.26)
and the highest by respondents with a monthly in-
come above 1201 €. Also, ‘Visits to galleries and mu-
seums’ were rated the lowest by respondents with a
monthly income of up to 600 € (mean rank = 142.01)
and the highest by those with a monthly income of
over 1201 €. ‘Photography and recording’ was rated the
lowest by respondents with a monthly income from
601 € to 900 € (mean rank = 163.24) and the highest
by those with a monthly income from 901 € to 1200 €
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 389
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 7 Statistically Significant Differences of Silver Hair Tourists According to Health Status Assessment
Tourist activity H p Mean rank
() () () ()
Spending time by shores, lakes or pools . . . . . .
Visiting national parks . . . . . .
Visiting amusement and theme parks . . . . . .
Tours of big cities . . . . . .
Visiting historical sights . . . . . .
Exploring local cuisine . . . . . .
Casinos . . . . . .
Reading books and magazines . . . . . .
Group sports activities . . . . . .
Individual sports activities . . . . . .
Notes Column heading are as follows: (1) pretty bad, (2) good, (3) pretty good, (4) very good.
(mean rank = 205.52). Also, ‘Individual sports activi-
ties’ were rated the lowest by respondentswith the low-
est monthly income, up to 600 € (mean rank = 139.21)
and the highest by those with the highest monthly
income, over 1201 € (mean rank = 194.17). ‘Visits to
health resorts’ were rated the lowest by respondents
with the lowest monthly income, of up to 600 € (mean
rank = 143.17) and the highest by respondents with the
highest monthly income, above 1201 € (mean rank =
205.21).
We can conclude that with tourist activities, as the
income of the respondents increases, their assessment
of an individual tourist activity also increases. The
only exceptions were ‘Spiritual and religious activi-
ties,’ where the ratings moved in the opposite direc-
tion (lower), and ‘Photography and recording,’ where
we observe a non-linear distribution.
We were also interested in statistically significant
differences of the surveyed silver hair tourists accord-
ing to their health status. With the Kruskal Wallis test,
we analysed the differences based on health status and
the selection of certain tourist activities.
Based on Table 7, we found that there was a sta-
tistical significance between (own) assessment of the
health status of respondents and selected tourist ac-
tivities in ten tourist activities (p < 0.05). ‘Spending
time by shores, lakes or pools’ was rated highest by
respondents with a pretty good assessment of their
own health (mean rank = 215.38) and lowest by those
giving a grade of good (mean rank = 171.82). ‘Visiting
national parks’ as a tourist activity was rated the high-
est by respondents who rated their health as very good
(mean rank = 212.85), and the lowest by those respon-
dents who rated it as pretty bad (mean rank = 128.03).
Also, ‘Visiting amusement and theme parks’ was rated
the highest by respondents with a rating of their own
health as pretty good (mean rank = 205.96), and the
lowest by those giving a score of pretty bad (mean
rank = 143.03 ). ‘Tours of big cities’ were rated high-
est by respondents with a rating of very good (mean
rank = 213.50) and lowest by respondents with a rat-
ing of good (mean rank = 169.00). ‘Visiting histori-
cal sites’ was also rated highest by respondents with
a very good rating of their own health (mean rank
= 244.29) and lowest by those who rated their health
as pretty bad (mean rank = 154.18). ‘Exploring local
cuisine’ was rated highest by respondents with a very
good self-assessment of their health (mean rank =
208.84) and lowest by those who rated their health as
pretty bad (mean rank = 146.69). ‘Casinos’ was rated
as highest by respondents with a good health status
(mean rank = 94.97) and lowest by respondents with
pretty bad health (mean rank = 73.00). Respondents
also rated ‘Reading books and magazines’ as highest
among those with a high rating of their health sta-
tus – very good (mean rank = 222.27), and the lowest
390 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
rating was attributed to respondents with a health-
condition rating as good (mean rank = 177.32). ‘Group
sports activities’ as a tourist activity were rated the
highest by respondents with a very good assessment
of their health status (mean rank = 232.45), and the
lowest by respondents with a good self-assessment of
health status (mean rank = 163.62). As expected, ‘Indi-
vidual sports activities’ as a tourist activity were rated
the highest by the surveyed silver hair tourists with
a very good (own) assessment of their health status
(mean rank = 253.19) and the lowest by those who as-
sess their health condition as pretty bad (mean rank =
150.92).
We can conclude that the analysis of five socio-
demographic and economic factors of the researched
tourist activities showed that they increase along with
a better assessment of the health status of the respon-
dents, which is expected and logical.
Discussion
In the field of social tourism, Medarić et al. (2017)
found that most research focuses solely on young peo-
ple, whilemuch less focuses on silver hair tourists. The
research of Pesonen et al. (2015) also showed that sil-
ver hair tourists value comfort, functionality or qual-
ity and reliability of online travel services. Alén et al.
(2016) summarized various authors who researched
the motivational factors of silver hair tourists and
found that safety, accessibility, orderliness, economy,
and appropriate health facilities in the area are impor-
tant factors on the basis of which silver hair tourists
decide on tourism activities. At the same time, these
findings coincide with our results.
We reject the statistically significant differences
that we predicted in the research hypotheses based
on the obtained results In h1, we assumed that in the
set of tourist activities, elderly women are statistically
significantly more likely to choose those activities that
involve less dynamics. The obtained results show sta-
tistically significant differences in the four variables.
If we look at less dynamic activities, such as ‘Play-
ing board games’ and ‘Reading books and magazines,’
we see that both go in the direction of higher ratings
of tourist activities for women. We expected that es-
timates for less dynamic activities would be higher
in women than in men, as also found by Lehto et al.
(2001), arguing that women focus more on opportu-
nities to socialize and interact with people and their
families than men while travelling. This confirms the
hypothesis.
In h2, we hypothesized that older silver hair tour-
ists will be more likely to opt for moderate tourist ac-
tivities. Statistically significant differences were found
in three activities, all in the direction of a higher score
in the age group 65–69 years, perhaps a little surpris-
ing, as we expected a higher score in the 65–69 age
group with more dynamic activities. Shavanddasht
(2018) found that silver hair tourists from the first age
group are more eager for novelty and pleasant hol-
idays, while silver hair tourists from the second age
group place more emphasis on safety and knowledge
fulfilment in tourism activities, andMrčela et al. (2015)
argued that silver hair tourists (aged 65+) have special
characteristics that affect the distribution of the health
tourism market. We thus reject the research hypothe-
sis.
In h3, we predicted that those silver hair tourists
with a higher level of education will be more likely to
choose tourism activities that develop cultural capi-
tal, compared to those with a lower level of education.
Statistically significant differences among silver hair
tourists were found in nine tourist activities. In seven
tourists activities, we recorded more frequent partici-
pation in activities that develop cultural capital among
silver hair tourists with higher education than among
those with a lower education. In the case of ‘Spiritual
and religious activities,’ the frequency of participation
decreased with the increase of education, while in the
activity ‘Shopping’ the frequency is nonlinearly dis-
tributed according to the level of education. And it
is these two activities that would be harder to place
than activities that develop cultural capital. Richards
(2016) argued that silver hair tourists with higher edu-
cation and higher social status aremore likely to attend
cultural tourism activities. The research hypothesis is
thus confirmed, as we found a statistically significant
difference in tourism activities which can be assumed
to raise cultural capital.
In h4, we assumed that those silver hair tourists
who had a lower personal monthly income will be
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 391
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
more likely to choose affordable tourism activities.
Statistically significant differences among silver hair
tourists were detected in six activities. Thus, we found
that higher rated activities for silver hair tourists who
had a lower personal monthly income were only
among ‘Spiritual and religious activities.’ Although
Hsu et al. (2007) found that one of the main motiva-
tions of elderly adults to become involved in tourism
were personal finances, we reject our research hypoth-
esis, as we confirmed it in only one activity.
In the last research hypothesis we hypothesized
that silver hair tourists with a higher assessment of
their health status will be more likely to choose dy-
namic tourism activities. Statistically significant dif-
ferences among silver hair tourists were found in ten
tourist activities. In all ten tourist activities, we recor-
ded that silver hair tourists with better health rate the
activities higher. Thus, we can conclude that health is
an important aspect of tourism. Jang and Wu (2006),
stated that healthy silver hair tourists are more intrin-
sically motivated to travel. However, we cannot con-
firm the distinction in the direction of dynamic and
calm tourist activities. We thus reject the research hy-
pothesis.
Tourism, which is on a steep rise, i.e. tourism for
silver hair tourists, is therefore even more impor-
tant today. Webster (2019) illustrated this with figures
when he said that in 1995 there were about 630 mil-
lion tourist flights of silver hair tourists worldwide,
while the same number was almost 1.46 billion in 2016.
Medarić et al. (2017), however, add that the fact that
the silver hair tourists are engaged in tourism, go on
vacation, and experience new things, certainly repre-
sents added value in their lives.
Conclusion
In the tourism industry, due to the rapid aging of the
population and current demographic changes, it is
necessary to include tourism for silver hair tourists
in the process of formulating a strategy and model of
optimal solutions in the field of tourism activities. This
is a fairly new travel trend, and at the same time, the
silver hair tourists are becoming an increasingly im-
portant and growing market in the tourism industry.
Today, the silver hair tourists are entering the third pe-
riod of life relatively healthy, financially independent
and eager for new experiences. They want active and
productive aging, as tourism has many positive effects
on them (better self-image, greater satisfaction with
life, gaining new knowledge, broadening their hori-
zons, less anxiety and health problems, etc.). Older
people are a very heterogeneous group, so knowing
their characteristics is essential when designing the
most optimal or innovative programmes and offers
for silver hair tourists.
In this article, we see that silver hair tourists most
often visit friends and relatives, as Möller et al. (2007)
also establish. Casinos and cruises are the least used by
silver hair tourists, which can also be accounted for in
the financial situation of most retirees. Elderly women
are statistically significantly higher than men in par-
ticipating in moderate tourism activities, as according
to Lehto et al. (2001), during travel, they focusmore on
opportunities to socialize and interact with people and
their families compared to elderly men. Younger sil-
ver hair tourists have a statistically significantly higher
rating of participation in given tourist activities. From
this we conclude that silver hair tourists do not choose
more or less dynamic activities depending on their age,
but all activities are more attractive to younger silver
hair tourists. The level of education plays an impor-
tant role in the tendency to extend cultural capital, as
well as the amount of monthly income in the choice of
tourist activities. The only exceptions are spiritual and
religious activities, which are more often attended by
silver hair tourists with a lowermonthly income.How-
ever, we stated that the state of health does not affect
the choice of more or less dynamic tourist activities,
but affects the frequency of the general choice of all
tourist activities. Research on the socio-demographic
and economic factors of silver hair tourists should help
the tourism industry develop effective programmes to
attract elderly travellers (Jang &Wu, 2006).
The findings can help us create innovative ap-
proaches thatwill help tourismproviders address some
of the future trends identified in the article. They may
also be an incentive for a travel agency intended ex-
clusively for silver hair tourists, which we do not cur-
rently have in Slovenia. Patterson and Balderas (2020)
stated the importance of understanding what kinds of
392 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
choices silver hair tourists want in the future, as well as
to match their changing needs and take these changes
into account proactively. This will not only provide ex-
citing opportunities for further research with elderly
generations, but also identify practical implications
for policy makers, industry practitioners and travel
marketers, as a whole.
We believe that we need to put our knowledge into
practice and start reorganizing tourism; it would also
make sense to expand the research and, based on the
findings, conduct a new survey in the wider social
space on the population of all silver hair tourists. Af-
ter all, the complexity of the topic, as we see, is very
great. Due to the limited scope, we performed an anal-
ysis of only individual statistical variables. Certainly it
would be interesting to analyse combinations of the
demographic variables, so factor-analysis or grouping
would give deeper analysis and understanding of the
results. At the same time, an open field of research is
being offered in other countries.
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