This article provides a description of salient themes that emerged from an investigation examining perceptions of leisure engagement by older adults who attend senior centers.

The study is concerned with identifying those motives of pleasure vacationers which influence the selection of a destination.

The elderly population presents a market of particular relevance to a large number of industries for its high purchasing power, comparatively higher than younger groups. Specifically, the tourism sector is emerging as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the aging process as a result of changes in the lifestyle of the population currently, more leisure-oriented than previous generations. However, the tourist companies are facing difficulties in understanding these consumers, whose behavior is different as mentioned, from that of older people in the past.

Religious tourism is that form that is exclusively or strongly motivated for religious reasons. One of the oldest types of tourism and a worldwide phenomenon of religious history, it can be differentiated into various forms. The short-term religious tourism is distinguished by excursions to nearby pilgrimage centers or religious conferences. The long-term describes visits of several days or weeks to national and international pilgrimage sites or conferences.

Religious sites as tourist attractions in Europe. The article describes the European system of religious tourism by examining mainly the satisfaction of visitors, whether devout pilgrims or secular tourists, at three types of attractions.

The influence of gastronomy on tourism has provided new and exciting opportunities for major stakeholders in the tourism and travel industry, which had previously emphasized homogeneity and stereotyped travel behavior for older travelers. This chapter explores the growth of this niche market and discuss how this new market segment can attract senior tourists.

The segment of adults over 55 years of age will increase the overall volume of tourism the most; these adults are characterised by extensive experience in tourism, making them more demanding consumers and allowing demand to shift away from peak seasons because this is a segment of the population that is often retired.

A critical view on age segementation, travel segments etc. This editorial updated relevant data related to the senior tourism market, emphasizing today's characteristics of this segment. It points also directions for future research and concludes that this special issue makes a significant contribution to senior tourism research.

Despite the fact of being the most prominent characteristic of tourism, tourism seasonality still remains a phenomenon. Almost all world destinations are facing seasonal concentration of tourist activities. The peaking of tourist demand in few hectic weeks or months is resulting in inefficient use of tourism facilities and pressure on the ecological and sociocultural carrying capacity. Strategies and policies to extend the main season and develop additional seasons are needed. The assumption is good understanding of tourism seasonality.

The aims of this study were to discuss negative effects of seasonality on tourism and its remedies, and also to find evidence for any positive effects of seasonality discussed in the literature.