Since this study aimed to know the Backpackers of the Next Generation it was concluded to extend knowledge about the older backpackers’ needs, usage and preferences, and the concomitant industry reaction to these travelers. Further, the findings qualitatively probe the less tangible motivations and perceptions of these older travelers. The research also offers preliminary insights into the perspectives of both backpackers and non-backpackers within the baby boomer cohort about the word “backpacker” and its related lexicon of terms. The fields of study were academic writings on backpackers, age-related research, and studies of small and medium-sized enterprises. Several subjects within the first two areas of literature overlap including: motivations to travel, types of experiences sought, consumption patterns, and the impact of economics in driving travel choice. This study is useful in our paper for it proves to examine the changes undergoing the world of Backpackers with their travel motivation in the area of demographic and the type of activities or experiences they are in to at this point of …show more content…
The purpose of the study was to examine the main motivations that drove backpackers to the Cape coast-Elmina conurbation, Ghana. The study involved 184 backpackers in the survey and also adopted Dann’s (1981) push-pull model as the theoretical basis for the study. It was found that backpackers who visited the Cape Coast-Elmina conurbation, Ghana were mostly young international students, who were largely unmarried. It was also noticed that backpackers belonged to different age categories; however, the majority were between 20-29 years, which goes to support the argument that they are predominantly young travelers (Richards & Wilson, 2004; Hannam & Ateljevic, 2008). Furthermore, the exploratory factor analysis on motivations using the varimax rotation, found that backpackers were motivated to travel by a mix of pull (Service delivery, ecological, and historical/cultural attractions) and push factors (heritage tourism, escapism, and adventure tourism). The examination of motivations among backpackers in the existing literature has seldom provided much empirical information on the push-pull dynamics in backpackers’ motivations, as postulated by Dann (1981) and Crompton (1979). Hence, the result from this current study is a contribution to the growing literature on backpacking. It was also proven that backpackers who travels to the Cape Coast-Elmina