The Generation Y Wellness Traveler:Marketing Implications

Nancy M. Hritz, Ph.D.Cara L. Sidman, Ph.D.

Michelle D’Abundo, Ph.D.

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Introduction ~

Travel for health, fitness or wellness:

New trends, but not a new idea

Introduction ~

Generation Y:

General characteristics

Travel characteristics

Gen Y & marketing

Purpose of the study:

To create a marketing profile of the Generation Y wellness traveler

Literature Review/background ~ Defining wellness tourism:

Medical tourismWellness and six dimensions

Travel motivations:Push (internal)Pull (external)

Method:

Survey instrument:

Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS)

Push/pull travel motivation statements (borrowed from Hallab 1999)

Analysis~

• 315 Generation Y individuals from the southeastern area of the U.S.

• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of push/pull questions for data reduction

• K-means cluster analysis for marketing profile

Results~

Five distinct groups of the Gen Y Wellness Traveler:

Escapers (19.42%) After Hours (16.83%) Amenity Seekers (23.95%) Most Unwell (16.18%) Most Well (23.62%)

Conclusions – what does it all mean?

Relationship between push and pull factors

Connection between perceived wellness and travel choices

Socialization’s importance and non-importance

Amenity Seekers

Thank you~Questions?