DJS appointed for St Helena retiree research

DJS Research has been appointed for a survey programme that aims to understand how the remote island of St Helena could attract British retirees.

Earlier this year, the British government postponed plans to build an airport on St Helena and therefore there is a real challenge in attracting investment to the island, which is only accessible by sea.

Results from the study have shown that the climate and beauty of the island, as well as its relaxed pace of life, appealed to UK retirees although, as expected, many were concerned by the limited access to the island.

However, a clear niche was identified that found this limited access appealing and were less concerned about the practical issues.

In order to gain an in-depth understanding of retiree's preferences, the team from DJS Research took a mixed methodological approach over a number of stages of research.

Initially, the company used a focused programme employing desk research and opinion-former interviews to assess market demand for overseas retirement among South Africans, a neighbour of St Helena.

However, market demand for overseas retirement was found to be very low as a result of the well-developed market within South Africa itself and cultural tendency not to retire overseas.

The focus of the research then shifted to the European retirement market, where desk research identified a number of European countries with large addressable markets.

Most substantial was the UK market, where over the next decade, a projected one million Britons plan to retire abroad.

The research progressed to attempt to identify the suitability of St Helena as a retirement destination for Britons.

In-depth interviews were conducted with UK retirees who were open to retiring abroad, covering their hopes and fears for retirement and their perceptions of St Helena.

DJS Research identified and profiled a group who would consider St Helena, helping to direct strategy for attracting retirees in the future.

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