Using Quantile Regression to Understand Senior International Visitor Spending—Evidences from Taiwan

The senior market draws attention in the tourism industry because of the substantial size, the larger amounts of discretionary income and time after retirement. Senior population are willing to spend more money and time on leisure and travel activities, including overseas travel. For the consideration of long-term competence and the contribution to local economy, which is derived from international tourism industries, tourism researchers are aware of the growing importance to the international tourism industries of senior travelers. Because of the remarkable growth in senior overseas travelers to Taiwan over the last ten years, the senior international travel market should be received more attention. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the socio-demographic and travel-related determinants of senior international travelers’ expenditures to Taiwan. The traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) approach, combined with quantile regression analysis, are adopted to capture both the mean and quantile behaviors of travel expenditures of senior international travelers, using the 2012 Annual Survey of Visitors Expenditure and Trends in Taiwan. The empirical findings of this study will add to the knowledge regarding the specific expenditure behavior of each expenditure groups to develop effective marketing and operational strategies for the international tourism market.