| The purpose of this study investigated the tourism motivation of Korean-American ethnic minority elderly and identified the correlations between the particular motivations of the target group and their socio-economic, demographic, and cultural characteristics. A total of 273 participants from Korean-American churches completed the questionnaire. The Tourism Motivation Scale (TMS) which was developed by Beard and Ragheb (1983) was used to measure tourism motivation. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 11.0 programs were employed to analyze the data of this study. The dependent variable was travel motivation for elderly Korean-Americans, and the independent variables were the sets of socio-economic, demographic, and cultural characteristics of the subjects. The findings showed that the elderly Korean-Americans tend to see a social relationship as the most important tourism motivation rather than attempting to improve a skill or ability as a result of travel experience. In terms of socio-demographic characteristics, age, education and income were positively related to travel motivation for elderly Korean-Americans. Recommendations for future research made as a result of these findings include a comparison of the tourism motivation of first generation immigrants with that of subsequent generations. Also a comparison study between Korean-Americans and other Asian-American elderly is needed. This study implies that an understanding of socio-cultural values may influence the formulation of new consumer marketing strategies. |
