4th International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues
Abstract
The rapidly increasing numbers of people suffering from dementia along with the significant changes in the relevant care business models open new opportunities for the hospitality industry. It is understood that dementia patients and their families and caregivers should not be isolated and they deserve to live a better life in better caring environments that will cater for their needs. The freedom to be able to travel and enjoy life is very important for all people and is top priority for dementia patients and caregivers. The current paper looks into some new challenges for the tourism and hospitality market because of the advanced requirements and processes needed for the dementia friendly business model to succeed. The research methodology is qualitative based on the selection and evaluation of secondary metadata content from webpages, open in depth interviews with caregivers along with focus group discussions of selected themes. Innovative solutions to the most important hospitality management challenges, ie customer relationship and channels in the business model canvas as described by Osterwalder & Pigneux (2009) are presented and documented along with conclusions for further research on the quality management improvements necessary for the successful adoption and operation of the expanded business model
