Senior and non-senior traveller behaviour: some exploratory evidence from the holiday rental sector in Switzerland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test a number of hypotheses concerning the differences between senior and non-senior travelers in the particular context of holiday rentals. A further aim is to provide exploratory evidence for these differences. Design/methodology/approach – A brief review of the extant literature leads into the formulation of some hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested using survey data. Data from the same survey are used to explore further data. Findings – It was possible not only to find some evidence to support the hypotheses, but also to find significant differences between the preferences of seniors and non-seniors, as well as between pre-seniors and seniors. Thus, pre-seniors exhibit a higher willingness to pay for holiday rentals than seniors, whereas seniors have a higher preference for domestic travel. Seniors are less interested in technology than other age groups. Originality/value – This paper reports on survey findings for a segment of the tourism market that has received practically no attention in the literature – the holiday rental market. The results pave the way for further investigations within this segment

Electrical network and power converters

Utility network parameters and performance affect power converters. Their specifications and standards put constraints on loads and limit the tolerated generation of harmonics, filtering and power-factor corrections. Static and dynamic perturbations are discussed

Between past, present and future – implications of socio-demographic changes in tourism.

This paper discusses the possibilities and limits of today’s tourism industry analyses regarding the predicted future travel behaviour on the basis of socio-demographic changes. Based on a written survey of German-speaking visitors of a destination in Switzerland, the results support the thesis of cohort-specific travel behaviour. The highlighted changes shall serve as a source for the development of a more diversified supply structure in tourism directed to the mature customer

Segmenting the senior travel market by means of travel motivation - Insights from a mature market (Switzerland)

The paper reports on the segmentation of Swiss senior travellers on the basis of their travel motivation. Switzerland is considered a mature market which is why this country serves as a role model for future travel behaviour. In contrast to previous studies, which identified up to six clusters, the results reveal that in the case analysed there are three clusters. Two of them partially represent a life cycle concept: TIME HONOURED BON VIVANTS (phase 1; towards the end of a professional life), and GRIZZLED EXPLORERS (phase 2; from the start of a retired life). These two segments are complemented by RETRO TRAVELLERS, which incor-porate many characteristics of the previous two but differentiate themselves in terms of educa-tion as well professional positions

An exploratory policy analysis of electric vehicle sales competition and sensitivity to infrastructure in Europe

This research contributes to discussions about policy interventions to stimulate the transition of vehicle technology. Concentrating on passenger cars, an extensive system dynamics based market agent model of powertrain technology transitions within the EU up to 2050 is employed. With a focus on subsidy scenarios for both infrastructure deployment and vehicle purchase, and set within the context of the EU fleet emission regulations, we find that there are important interactions between different powertrain types and with infrastructure provision. For example, strong plug-in electric vehicle (PiEV) policy could inhibit the maturity of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Infrastructure provision is important for improving the utility of a PiEV, but we find that in the early market it may have a weaker correlation with uptake than other policy options, until the PiEV stock share is over around 5%. Furthermore, an attempt to install a ratio of much more than one charge point per 10 PiEV may lead to little gains and high costs. PiEV sales are relatively insensitive at target levels over 25 PiEV per charge point. The results of our study can help policymakers to find the right balance and timing of measures targeting the transition towards low carbon alternative vehicles

Senior and non-senior traveller behaviour: some exploratory evidence from the holiday rental sector in Switzerland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test a number of hypotheses concerning the differences between senior and non-senior travelers in the particular context of holiday rentals. A further aim is to provide exploratory evidence for these differences. Design/methodology/approach – A brief review of the extant literature leads into the formulation of some hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested using survey data. Data from the same survey are used to explore further data. Findings – It was possible not only to find some evidence to support the hypotheses, but also to find significant differences between the preferences of seniors and non-seniors, as well as between pre-seniors and seniors. Thus, pre-seniors exhibit a higher willingness to pay for holiday rentals than seniors, whereas seniors have a higher preference for domestic travel. Seniors are less interested in technology than other age groups. Originality/value – This paper reports on survey findings for a segment of the tourism market that has received practically no attention in the literature – the holiday rental market. The results pave the way for further investigations within this segment

Senior and non-senior traveller behaviour: some exploratory evidence from the holiday rental sector in Switzerland.

An important number of studies have been made concerning life course variation in travel and leisure behaviour, often from the point of view of the travel life cycle. Whilst many facets of travel and leisure have been discussed, there is a quasi total lack of literature on the particular sector of holiday rentals, despite the importance of that sector. Given the demographic ageing currently taking place in many European countries, it becomes important not just to further pursue research on age as it relates to travel behaviour, but also to extend the analysis to other areas of tourism than those most frequently studied. In this paper we formulate a number of hypotheses concerning the willingness to pay for holiday rentals and travel preferences, which we subsequently test, using a survey of Swiss households. We find evidence to support our hypotheses and find significant differences between both non-seniors and seniors, as well as between younger and older seniors