Exploring Tourism Inclusion: Perspectives of Older Adults in St. Jacobs

Abstract

The profit-driven and pro-growth tourism industry, driven by capitalist models, has long exploited resources from communities and caused inequities (Fletcher, 2011; Becken and Kaur, 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic’s interruption of tourism has not only revealed its vulnerability, but also created an opportunity for researchers to reconsider its problematic practices and advocate for a potential shift toward greater sustainability and resilience (Ma et al., 2020; Becken and Kaur, 2022; Bellato et al., 2022). One approach is regenerative tourism, which prioritizes the well-being of destination communities by leveraging tourism resources for regeneration (Pollock, 2019). Acknowledging the unique characteristics of each community, regenerative tourism promotes collaboration among all stakeholders to address diverse community needs inclusively (Becken and Kaur, 2022). Existing literature on regenerative tourism suffers from a notable gap in the limited attention given to the involvement of older adult residents as community stakeholders in tourism. The ways in which tourism can benefit older adult residents remains relatively unexplored (Chang et al., 2022). Therefore, this proposed research seeks to explore the tourism needs and participation of older adult residents in St. Jacobs Village, aiming to promote inclusive stakeholder engagement for a marginalized group. To achieve this, Arts-Based Research methods, focus group, and individual interview were employed to gain insights from older adult participants and facilitate the sharing of their experiences and perspectives on St. Jacobs Village’s active engagement in tourism.