*2.2. Seniors' Travel Motivations*

An increasingly high number of researchers on the subject deal with the study of the motivations of elderly people (e.g., Guinn 1980; Tongren 1980; Anderson and Langmeyer 1982; Romsa and Blenman 1989; Zimmer et al. 1995; Norman et al. 2001; Sellick and Muller 2004; Pestana et al. 2020). The tourism sector, seeing the high potential for the development of offers directed towards seniors, makes attempts at market segmentation (Panasiuk 2014). Researchers hoping to meet these needs carry out studies on senior tourists to categorize them, accounting for various factors, such as demographic and psychological factors (Horneman et al. 2002), lifestyle and attitudinal factors (Marthur et al. 1998; Muller and O'Cass 2001), and educational and income levels (Javalgi et al. 1992; Jang and Ham 2009).

Researchers studying tourism classify elderly people in different ways due to their behaviors, indicating diverse types of senior tourists (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Various classifications and labels for different types of older tourists (own elaboration based on Sedgley et al. 2011).

The existing studies in the field of seniors' travel motivations are based on the two dimensions of motivation, that is, 'pull' and 'push' factors (Crompton 1979; Dann 1981; Iso-Ahola 1982; Uysal and Hagan 1993; Uysal and Jurowski 1994; Cha et al. 1995; Klenosky 2002; Chen and Wu 2009). The distinction between push and pull factors appeared in the subject literature in the context of motivation for the first time thanks to Dann (1977), who, based on the work of Tolman (1959), presented the answer to the question of "what makes tourist travel?" He included all outside factors which attract a tourist to a given place, such as, e.g., the sea, mountains, sun, beach, etc., as pull factors. In the context of seniors, other researchers have shown that the main attributes of a destination that attract seniors are: natural, cultural, and historical attractions, and good weather conditions (Norman et al. 2001); security, cost of the trip, and cultural and natural attractions (Wu 2003); places of historical interest, medical service (facilities), and the weather condition (Huang and Tsai 2003).

Push factors, on the other hand, included internal factors stemming from the predispositions of the actual tourists—their values, experiences, and desires, such as sentimentalism, the wish to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, etc. (Norman et al. 2001; Wu 2003; Huang and Tsai 2003; Jang and Wu 2006; Sangpikul 2008; Chen 2009). In accordance with this theory, people travel because they are "pushed" by internal factors and "pulled" by external factors (Uysal et al. 2008).

According to Uysal and Hagan (1993), individuals are pushed into making a travel decision by motivational variables, as well as being pulled or attracted by the destination area. Pull factors are mainly related to the attractiveness of a given destination, such as beaches, accommodation, recreation facilities, cultural and historical resources, whereas push factors are origin-related and refer to the desires of the individual traveler, e.g., rest and relaxation, health, adventure, or prestige.

Travel motivations according to the push and pull factors for traveling are also an issue that relates to elderly tourists. According to Widiyastuti and Ermawati (2019), the elderly's travel decisions are influenced by factors arising from themselves (internal factors, such as spiritual needs, health needs and health condition, working, having money, meeting people, the availability of travel companions, traveling for recreation, etc.) and factors which are offered by the destination (external factors, such as the suitability of the location to the elderly people's condition, accessibility and convenience in accessing information, etc.).

Many studies are striving to answer the question of what senior tourists' motivations for traveling are (Cleaver et al. 1999; Backman et al. 1999; Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Horneman et al. 2002; Huang and Tsai 2003; Jang and Wu 2006). Motivations for travel cover a broad range of human behaviors and experiences, and the typical list of these motivations might include relaxation, excitement, social interactions with friends or family, adventure, status, age, and escape from routine or stress. All of them play a significant role in the decision-making process.
