The elderly tourism market is an important part of China tourism market. However, "silver hair tourism" is still a blank to be developed in China. How to develop the elderly tourism market has become an important research topic in the development of China's tourism industry. On the basis of analyzing the feasibility of developing the tourism market for the elderly, this paper discusses the consumption psychology, behavioral characteristics and psychological and spiritual needs of the elderly, and puts forward the development and marketing strategies of tourism products in line with China's national conditions and the characteristics of the elderly groups.

Keywords: elderly tourism; Market development; Feasible marketing strategy

China has the largest elderly population in the world, and one fifth of them live in China. Indeed, from a national perspective, with more and more elderly people traveling abroad, a booming elderly tourism market has been formed. The appearance of this phenomenon is a rare opportunity for the growing tourism industry in China. How to develop the elderly tourism market and seize this "silver hair industry" which has not been developed on a large scale but has great market potential is not only an urgent problem to be solved in the development of tourism market, but also a better embodiment of tourism serving the society. It is also a very effective way for tourism to obtain good economic benefits.

First, the possible conditions for the development of the elderly tourism market in China

The gradual aging of the social population will form a considerable elderly tourism consumption group. According to the demographer's prediction, 2 1 century will become the century of the elderly, and China is no exception. According to relevant statistics, the number of elderly people over 60 in China has reached 65.438+34 billion, accounting for 654.38+00.48% of the total population in China. However, the international standard of aging countries or regions is that the population aged 60 and above accounts for 10% of the total population, and the elderly over 65 account for 7% of the total population. According to internationally accepted standards, China has begun to enter an aging society. In the next 40 years, the elderly population will increase by 3.2% every year, which shows that the elderly population base in China is quite large. In addition, with the great improvement of people's living conditions such as food, clothing, housing and transportation and the continuous improvement of medical standards, the health status of the elderly has changed greatly compared with before: first, the mortality rate has decreased, and second, the average life expectancy has been continuously extended. It can be seen that among these increasing elderly people, some people will form a huge tourism consumption group, and their proportion in the tourism market will become larger and larger, and their potential role can never be ignored.

With the change of life and consumption concept, more and more elderly people go out of their homes and participate in tourism activities. Since the reform and opening up, China's economy has shown an unprecedented good development trend. Therefore, with the development of economy, the progress of society, and the establishment and perfection of social security system, the traditional concept of the elderly with strong sense of frugality and housekeeping has quietly changed. After the baptism of reform and opening up. The elderly are no longer satisfied with the basic needs of life, but have a strong desire to live a rich life and enjoy life. They hope to have more colorful and high-quality life content. Traditional leisure activities such as playing chess, raising flowers and playing mahjong can no longer fully meet the spiritual needs of the elderly. They are more eager to have some higher-level leisure activities that integrate knowledge, entertainment and health. Tourism can not only appreciate the natural scenery in different places, appreciate the local customs, but also broaden your mind, cultivate your temperament, keep fit and add interest to life. Therefore, among many leisure ways, the elderly choose to travel more and more. The long-awaited tourist attractions that I couldn't go to before because I didn't have time and money to spend money have now let go of my hands and feet and turned my desire to travel into concrete actions. The difference is that after experiencing the benefits of tourism, they have stronger interests, higher aspirations, greater determination and more trips.

The elderly have the economic basis for tourism and sufficient leisure time. The two most basic conditions for tourism activities are enough leisure time and disposable income, that is, leisure and money. The elderly have a unique advantage in this respect, especially in time. Because after retirement, the old people live at home and have plenty of time. Especially with the progress of society, the big family with four generations living under one roof has gradually transformed into a small family of two or three. In this way, a large number of "empty nest families" have appeared in the city. The old man lives alone in an apartment, and his married children live in the same city or other places in other cities, so they can only go home to visit relatives regularly or irregularly according to the busy work. Many times, old people are relatively idle and lonely. Because of this, the elderly not only have plenty of time, but also want to arrange suitable activities to make their lives more colorful.

In addition, from the economic basis of tourism consumption of the elderly, the elderly retire at home, have a fixed income, social security, and some savings. In addition, most of the children are working at this time, and the family burden is light, so the wage income of the elderly really becomes their disposable income. Moreover, children will give the elderly some pocket money regularly or irregularly to show filial piety and objectively provide conditions for the elderly to travel. Therefore, it can be said that tourism for the elderly has a certain economic foundation.

Because of this, the elderly have more freedom and flexibility to travel abroad, and there are more spaces and forms to choose. They can freely arrange travel time and choose places according to their physical conditions and climatic conditions, without having to join in the fun on holidays, which is beyond the reach of other tourist groups.

China's rich natural tourism resources and humanistic tourism resources provide good objective conditions for the elderly to travel. China has a vast territory and rich tourism resources, and there are many places suitable for the elderly to travel. Beijing, the capital, has a rich cultural atmosphere and profound cultural heritage, which is especially suitable for sightseeing for the elderly. Xi, Nanjing, Luoyang and other ancient cities. They are also full of cultural landscapes worth watching. In addition, Yunnan, which is full of southern customs, Dalian, Qingdao and Xiamen along the coast, and Suzhou and Hangzhou, which are known as "paradise on earth", are all good places for the elderly to play and wander.

From the practical significance of tourism for the elderly, it can not only expand and increase the share of the tourism market, but also bring tangible benefits to the development of tourism because the elderly have more leisure time and can freely choose the travel time. More importantly, it is of great social significance for the elderly to participate in tourism activities, which not only marks the development of society and the progress of civilization, but also reflects the concern of the whole society for the elderly groups. Tourism activities will become a good way for the elderly in China to improve their quality of life.

Through the above analysis of the feasible factors for the development of China's elderly tourism market, we can easily find that the conditions for the elderly to travel abroad are becoming more and more mature in terms of concept, economy, body and time, and the elderly tourism market is indeed promising. If this market can be successfully developed, it will inject new vitality into the development of tourism in China and bring huge business opportunities.

Second, the psychological and behavioral characteristics of tourism consumption of the elderly in China

Consumer psychology is the ideology that dominates consumers' buying behavior. Obviously, the rich life experience and long-term consumption behavior of the elderly make their consumption psychology very different from that of other age groups. And this kind of consumption psychology directly affects their consumption behavior, including tourism consumption. Due to the influence of age, the elderly often move slowly and travel for a long time, so they can't accept marching in the wind and rain. I like to arrange activities freely according to my physical condition and preferences.

Rich life experience makes the consumption behavior of most elderly people tend to be rational and mature. Before buying goods, they often make rational analysis and thinking, fully consider various factors, shop around, and finally buy goods or services that they think are satisfactory. Some elderly people are habitual consumers. Because they buy and use a certain commodity or service repeatedly, they will form a deep impression on the commodity or service and gradually form a fixed consumption habit, which will not be easily changed. For unfamiliar goods or services, it is not easy to buy, and impulsive consumption behavior rarely occurs.

The elderly consumers in our country have lived a hard life for a long time, so their lives are mostly frugal. However, with the progress of the times, the improvement of people's living standards and the increase of income, elderly consumers no longer blindly pursue cheap prices when purchasing goods or services, but also show their ability and desire to adapt to new things and new environments. Reliable quality and convenient use become the main factors they consider when buying goods or services. It can be seen that the current elderly consumers are not the kind of consumers who only want cheap prices. In addition, in the consumption machine, it must be noted that after the children grow up and become independent, the economic burden of the elderly will be reduced, and some elderly consumers will often have compensatory consumption motives, trying to find opportunities at any time to make up for the past unfulfilled consumption aspirations due to conditions and make compensatory consumption. Judging from the way of accompanying the elderly to participate in tourism activities, because most of their children are married, they rarely ask questions in their leisure time and rarely travel with the elderly in person. Therefore, when the elderly participate in tourism activities, they choose to travel with their wives or peers. Of course, the old people's rooms themselves have the same topic, so they can take care of each other during the trip and refer to each other and make suggestions when shopping.

Judging from the influence of marketing advertisements on the elderly, because of their mature consumption psychology and rich experience, most of them think that they can choose their own satisfactory products through a variety of choices and their own careful judgment. Therefore, advertising has a general impact on the elderly. Of course, elderly consumers still want to know the characteristics of goods or services through real advertisements as the basis for their own consumption and purchase. However, according to the survey, the forms of advertising media that have a great influence on the elderly are audio-visual and newspaper advertisements, while celebrity advertisements have little influence on the elderly.

Judging from the tourism interests of the elderly, they have typical cultural nostalgia characteristics or cultural "wishing" complex. Therefore, historical and cultural tourism routes, folk cultural tourism routes and various theme cultural tourism routes can often stimulate the travel motivation of elderly tourists. The above-mentioned consumption characteristics and behavior characteristics of the elderly are issues that we must face and pay attention to when developing the tourism market for the elderly. These characteristics of the elderly tourist groups must be considered in the planning and design of tourist routes and the organizational arrangements for eating, living, traveling, traveling, entertainment and shopping.