Beyond Tourism: The Importance of Baby Boomer Generation Volunteers

Population aging is regarded as a dominant global demographic trend. One of the least researched population cohort groups in the past are older tourists, who are regarded as a lucrative target market by many volunteer tourism organizations. This systematic literature review provides an analysis of the existing literature and concludes that even though numerous studies have shown the benefits of volunteering for older adults’ health and well-being, there have been relatively few academic studies that have examined older adult’s (including the baby boomer generation) experiences as volunteer tourists and their effect on local communities. This is surprising as older volunteer tourists are generally characterized in the literature as having the time, budget, and desire to travel. To many volunteer tourists, this provides challenging opportunities, unique experiences, a means of staying active and productive and to use their various skills and interests in retirement to enrich their lives, while at the same time enjoying a touristic experience. In a post-pandemic world, older adults still want to travel and continue to be busy and active in volunteer tourism activities after retirement, contributing to their health and psychological well-being. Tourism researchers need to help close the knowledge gap by conducting additional research on the real-world experiences of volunteer tourists. They also need to assist VLOs (Volunteer Leadership Organizations) to develop new strategies and marketing campaigns that specifically target baby boomers in order to better prepare them before and after their travel.