TABLE OF CONTENTS C Michael Hall
Demographics are an important factor in assessing tourism production and consumption. Demography is the study of the characteristics of human populations. This may be done at both a macro level, e.g. in relation to population characteristics in general, or at a micro level, which looks at the characteristics of specific populations either for identified locations or communities or for defined sample populations, such as consumers of particular tourist products, the characteristics of destination residents, or the characteristics of the tourism workforce. Indeed, almost any tourist survey collects the demographic profile of its respondents in order to provide empirical data. The present chapter concentrates on the implications of macro-level demographic data and trends for the future of tourism. However, it also provides an outline of the life-course concept which is central to much discussion of demographic change as well as its implications for tourism consumption.
Demography, along with psychographic information, has long been used to assess tourism market trends. Much of the understanding of demographic information, particularly in the western world, has been influenced by ideas that there are...
