Equal access to tourism? Convergence of seniors’ participation in tourism in the European Union
摘要
The process of ageing of populations observed for many years necessitates the undertaking of actions aimed at maintaining the physical and psychological well-being of seniors. The objective of this study was to analyse the convergence in tourism behaviours across the European Union (EU) countries and to evaluate the co-occurrence of convergence in tourism participation and expenditure with the convergence of household economic situations and satisfaction with social functioning. The research was conducted among seniors (aged 65+) and pre-seniors (aged 55–64) from the EU Member States. The study facilitated a comparison of changing demographic and economic conditions with the tourism decisions of seniors, which is crucial for shaping future tourism policy and promoting sustainable tourism development. The research incorporated data from Eurostat and the OECD for the years 2014–2022 for the specified age groups. Absolute convergence was used to identify the catch-up effect in financial aspects of tourism participation and in participation in tourism from a quality-of-life perspective. In order to check whether access to tourism is fair, sigma convergence was applied. In addition, the classification of EU countries based on the identified convergence was conducted. Convergence was observed concerning the risk of poverty and median incomes of seniors and pre-seniors, demonstrating the implementation of cohesion policy and the equalisation of opportunities within the EU. Simultaneously, a convergence in tourism expenditure was noted for seniors. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the changes in the time required to halve the disparities among seniors in the EU was also observed. Convergence with a catch-up effect for economic and tourism-related factors was indicated for seniors in most of the countries that joined the EU in 2004.