Senior tourism aims at offering travel and touring exposure to a specific age group of tourists those have retired from active employment and have a lot of leisure time in hand. The quality of service provided by the tour operators is a very important criterion with close monitoring and utmost care. Old age makes the senior tourists physically weak and vulnerable to weather fluctuations, stress and other hardships of tour that the young people can withstand. Emphasis should be more on medical assistance and other health care support enabling the senior citizens enjoy the trip to their heart’s content full worth of money. Therefore, organizing trips for senior tourists is not an easy affair. Cozy accommodation, smooth and hassle free transport arrangement are primary requisites. Quality and content of food on offer is equally important with an assurance that it is loaded with minimum spice suited for easy digestion keeping in mind the weakening of the organs over the age. The destination should be pleasant and soothing.

It is imperative that the tour destination is calm free from the harsh grating, and the colorful bustling crowd which is generally appealing for the younger age group may be a disturbance for some senior tourists. However, the senior tourists have certain inherent advantages. They have saved enough money at the end of their career to spend on quality tour programs. They have lesser financial commitments but ample time to enjoy trips to the core of their heart. The trips need not be quick and time bound with a stress on covering as many tour destinations as possible within a limited time frame. The pace must be slow, gentle and leisurely giving the senior tourists a feel they are being well cared for as their children would do for them. While on tour, they must enjoy the security and attention as if being in a blissful repository and at the same time the feeling of isolation or being neglected must not creep in. The tour package must be so designed that their mental appetite is fulfilled and they do not feel neglected.

It is a fact that senior tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism markets as today’s young blood move steady as a group towards senile decay. With their muscles frail and minds fastidious, their travelling quests must be properly fed with efficient designed tour packages, and you have a very promising future in this sector of tourism. There are enough tourists falling in the senior citizen age group ready with their accumulated savings to embark on quality tour destination. Even the senior tourists can be classified as young seniors falling in the age group between 50 to 60 years.

They are relatively the healthiest lot who have just retired with lesser commitments and social responsibility and have a strong drive for travel. The middle seniors featuring in the age group between 60 to 70 years have relatively high medical costs, and they seek for comfortable tour programs with in- built security and quality. The older seniors are 70 years and above and naturally their physical mobility is on the wane, but still they look for a diversion from the monotony in some short duration well knit trips. They strictly seek cost effective secured trips.

Senior tourism has found a significant slot in the global tourism market in general. The potential needs to be tapped and the concept to be upgraded with delivery of efficient service with the additional element of care properly built in. This age group is emotionally very sensitive and with advancement in age they behave like kids and psychologically as vulnerable. It should be a serious effort from all starting from the tourism department, tour operators including administrative machinery not to hurt the sentiments of senior tourists in any way.