Senior citizen tourism market: challenges and opportunities for Tanzania

Senior citizen arrivals in Tanzania have continued to be a challenge since it caters for less than five percent of the international tourists. The major five sources of arrivals are Italy, United Kingdom, USA, Germany and Spain and they cater for over 50% of the international arrivals. Except for USA, these countries belong to an ageing population and so the need to consider how to maintain the high number of arrivals but for senior citizens. Moreover, the Tanzanian government policy on senior tourists or their special needs is silent. This article aims to look for challenges and opportunities that currently exist for senior citizen tourists in Tanzania, with a major focus on the Northern region of Tanzania. The areas of focus in the questionnaire were senior tourist's experience in access to health facilities, hospitality offered by the locals, climatic condition in Tanzania, accessibility of transport, and accessibility of shopping centres. However, health facilities, access to transport, and shopping areas were found to be challenges by the senior citizens. It is envisaged that the findings of this research may assist in formulation of policies that will cater for the needs of all visiting tourists and assist in improving the tourism industry in Tanzania.