Companionship to an aging parent in international tours : conflict vs harmony

Abstract

Senior tourism is a rapidly growing market in China, and global players have begun to attract senior tourists from China using diversified ways to help boost the industry in different destinations worldwide. However, scant research has been conducted to examine senior tours accompanied by offspring, let alone the Chinese senior context itself. This study utilizes autoethnography to examine a senior international tour accompanied by a young son. The study confirms the existence of six sources of conflict, but verifies that harmony is the more important feature in such a tour. Related practical implications on how to better arrange such tours are presented. 在中国, 老年旅游正在迅速发展, 而在全球市场上, 各目的地国家也正采取多种方式来吸引中国的老年游客, 以促进本国的旅游产业发展。然而, 很少有研究关注老年游客在其成年子女陪伴下的出游行为, 更不用说在中国老年旅游这一市场背景下的研究。本研究使用自我民族志的方法, 对一次由成年子女陪伴老年游客出行的国际旅游进行探究。研究证实在这一过程中, 有六种矛盾源头的存在, 但和谐被认为是在这类旅行中, 更重要的主题。最后, 本文给出了如何更好安排该类型出行的建议。