Identifying and predicting the market for the "elderly" tourism with an approach to the expected values

The identification of tourism market segments helps to better develop travel packages and more efficient strategies. By identifying the expected values derived from the behavioral patterns and comparing them with the behavioral interests of the travel of elderly people, along with individual characteristics, the market for elderly tourists can be segmented and predicted. In terms of the purposes, this is an applied research and in terms of the data collection method, this is descriptive-survey. The qualitative approach and the Delphi method has been used to identify the expected values and, to predict market groups, a quantitative approach using neural networks has been used. This research has been conducted among 380 Esfahani and Tehrani elderly tourists using non-random and available sampling method. The results show that values are due to individual and personality traits, travel motives, travel experiences, travel style, and travel pleasure. The market for elderly tourists was identified and predicted based on the expected values, with the neural network technique in three conservative, prosperous and younger groups.