Descobrindo a(s) prática(s) do turismo emissivo para a terceira idade em Uberlândia - MG

Abstract

The world and the Brazilian population have experienced a sharp increase in the number of elderly people as shown in demographic data as a result of improvements in sanitary conditions, advances in medicine, health care, and access to information and education. According to the UN (2023), the number of people aged 65 or over worldwide is expected to double in the next 27 years, from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2050. It can be seen that, while the elderly population is growing due to increased life expectancy, the total population is declining owing to falling fertility rates. The IBGE 2022 census showed a decreasing number of the Brazilian total population with 203,062,512 inhabitants, whereas the estimate was 213.3 million in 2021. For the UN (2022), in 2021 life expectancy fell to 71 years, below the 72.8 years recorded in 2019, an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, this figure is expected to rise to 73.3 years. In this context, the new demographic configuration draws society's attention to the political, economic, social, and cultural areas so that the specificities of this demand can be met by individuals with desires and dreams that are rekindled during this stage of life. Faced with this panorama, the seniors have been attracted by the consumption of economic activities such as tourism. Driven by marketing strategies that create the desire to travel, these people are being motivated to travel to discover new places and tourist destinations to enjoy a life that is renewed and full of experiences. Traveling implies people moving to another city, state, region, or country, which characterizes outbound tourism. Despite its infrastructure, tourist services, and attractions, Uberlândia stands out as an outbound centre for tourists, specifically elderly people. For this reason, with the increase in life expectancy, and my professional and academic experience as a tour guide and a geographer, I'm interested in understanding how this tourism is taking shape and gaining visibility in the city of Uberlândia. It also poses challenges as there have been few studies on the subject in the field of Geography. The main aim of this dissertation is to analyse senior tourism organized in Uberlândia (MG) as a practice of sociability and socio-economic insertion for this group. To achieve the proposed objectives, it was followed the four research guidelines (quantitative and qualitative; bibliographic; exploratory, and applied) and held a theoretical and interdisciplinary dialogue with different areas. The proposal presented in this research allowed to learn and delve deeper into the subject studied through new views and ideas raised. It was clear that the growing elderly population is interest in different activities such as tourism and that is the reason they need opportunities for inclusion linked with public authorities (implementation of targeted public policies), public and private institutions and the entire tourism sector as well, to serve those people who do not always have the disposable income to travel.