Age‐Friendly Tourism as a Dynamic Service Ecology: Older Adults' Lived Experiences With Travel, Barriers, and Adaptive Strategies

ABSTRACT The primary aim of this research is to explore the older adults' (aged 50+) lived experiences within the context of age‐friendly tourism, focusing on the complexities and barriers including structural, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial challenges, and to identify adaptive strategies that these individuals employ to navigate these obstacles. For that purpose, this qualitative study examined the lived experiences of 12 older adults (aged 50+) through semi‐structured interviews and employing reflexive thematic analysis to illuminate their interactions with travel services. Three themes emerged: (1) Travel as Growth and Well‐Being —participants framed tourism as developmental and identity‐affirming; (2) Structural and Embodied Barriers —participants encountered systemic misalignment in physical, environmental, cognitive, and psychosocial domains; (3) Adaptive Strategies and Service Enablers —participants demonstrated agency while demanding systemic change toward normalized accessibility. The study reconceptualizes age‐friendliness as an emergent property of dynamic service ecologies operating across three interdependent domains: emotional–identity fulfillment, spatial–bodily accommodation, and service–system responsiveness. Rather than treating aging as a decline requiring special provisions, findings position later life as deserving tourism systems that sustain dignity, curiosity, autonomy, and meaningful participation. The study contributes theoretically by reframing age‐friendliness as a relational and emergent property of tourism service ecosystems rather than a static set of accessibility features. By offering practical recommendations for developing genuinely inclusive travel experiences and increasing well‐being, this study seeks to inform tourism providers about creating age‐friendly environments that benefit travelers across the age spectrum.