Recent research in social tourism notes possible links between tourism participation and improvements in health. However, there is a lack of quantitative evidence concerning the potential links between tourism participation and self‐reported health amongst older people. An ageing society requires measures to promote independent living and enhance older people's quality of life. This paper provides evidence that older tourists are more active and healthy than non‐tourists, from a study comparing health perceptions amongst Spanish older people. The results provide tentative conclusions of causal relationships between tourism and dimensions of physical and mental health through a Structural Equation Model. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.