The Determinants of Length of Stay of Italian Senior Tourists

The growing aging of the population and the recent Covid-19 pandemic pose new challenges to the tourism industry. If, on the one hand, the senior tourism market, following an improvement in the living conditions and quality of life, a greater disposable income, and amount of free time, represents one of the most promising markets in the next future, on the other hand, following the pandemic scenario, it constitutes one of the most fragile and exposed sectors. With these considerations in mind, this paper aims to analyze the demand for senior tourism in Italy and determines which factors influence the length of stay (LOS) (for tourism or leisure purposes); in particular, it analyzes the differences in LOS distinguishing between young seniors (55–64 years old) and seniors (65 years old and over), using the Zero-Truncated Negative Binomial as a methodological approach. Results confirm that senior tourists stay 26% longer than young seniors.