Examining the change in wellbeing following a holiday

Building on existing evidence that tourism contributes to wellbeing, this study aims to investigate how both hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing changes after a holiday. A longitudinal inquiry involving three waves of observation (during, the fourth week, and the eighth week following a holiday) was carried out in five tourism cities in China, using Latent Growth Curve models to analyze change. Results suggest that life satisfaction – an indicator of hedonic wellbeing – does not decline as expected whereas other indicators of hedonic wellbeing declined dramatically in the first month and then mildly in the second month following a holiday. Comparatively, eudaimonic wellbeing declined gradually and mildly during the same two-month intervals. Higher levels of optimal tourism experiences predicted slower declines of both hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.     

From sad to happy to happier: Emotion regulation strategies used during a vacation

Emotion regulation is a psychological intervention tourists use to maximize the positive outcomes of their travel experiences. Tourists either down-regulate negative emotions (e.g., from sad to happy) or up-regulate positive emotions (e.g., from happy to happier). The construct of emotion regulation was used as a guiding framework to uncover which emotion regulation strategies tourists used during their vacations. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Study findings revealed tourists used three phases of emotion regulation strategies—interpersonal, situational, and intrapersonal—during their vacations. These findings not only contribute to tourism research by documenting the transient, dynamic and variable nature of emotions, but also provide a glimpse into how tourism and hospitality professionals should modify programs/experiences in response to tourists' emotions.     

Buen Vivir: Degrowing extractivism and growing wellbeing through tourism

Abstract

Buen Vivir (BV) is a holistic vision for social and environmental wellbeing, which includes alternative economic activities to the neoliberal growth economy. This article looks at how tourism initiatives under a BV approach can lead to degrowth by drawing on a case study of how BV is put into practice through tourism in the Cotacachi County in Ecuador. We argue that by degrowing socially and environmentally damaging extractive sectors and growing alternative economic activities like community-based tourism, a BV approach could increase social and environmental wellbeing. We refer to LaTouche’s notion of degrowth as a matrix of multiple alternatives that will reopen the space for human creativity. This complements the notion of BV as a plural approach, and in turn works to decolonise the parameters of how we might understand degrowth. In the case of Cotacachi, the vision for tourism is based on the needs of the community, rather than to satisfy a Eurocentric ideal of development supported by a policy of extractivism. BV is key to how this community conceptualises the potentialities of tourism because it considers the wellbeing of the people and the environment. In this case, degrowth is a consequence of BV, rather than the objective.     

Coastal blue space and wellbeing research: looking beyond western tides

ABSTRACT

In this paper we focus on coastal blue spaces and the ways in which they have been advocated as beneficial for health and wellbeing in the context of leisure practices. We offer a reassessment of some of the claims made in this growing body of literature, highlighting the diverse cultural practices at the coast across different geographical contexts, particularly for those communities that have experienced exclusion due to ethnicity, culture, and income. We then discuss conceptions of coastal blue space and wellbeing within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand, a bi-cultural nation in which indigenous knowledges connected to both wellbeing and leisure in the outdoor world are impacting dominant (white, colonial) discourses, policies and practices. We illustrate that a Māori world view embraces different practices and assumptions about what water means and how relationships with water are made including through leisure practices. Aotearoa New Zealand provides a revealing cultural context for re-assessing and indeed challenging Eurocentric assumptions about blue spaces as sites of wellbeing. More widely we suggest that it is timely to anchor blue space and wellbeing research to different ‘worlds’; that looking in to reach out and expanding research agendas is a useful and important enterprise.     

The influence of travel photo editing on tourists’ experiences

Photo editing has become a prevalent practice when people share their travel photos on social media. This study examines this understudied phenomenon by exploring travelers' photo-editing behavior and its impact on tourists' destination experiences. Three pilot interviews and 23 in-depth interviews were conducted using photo-elicitation. The results show that photo editing does not necessarily alter the objective part of the trip memories, but rather reminds tourists of more positive than negative memories. Compliments from the social media audience on the edited photos improve tourists' overall recall of their destination experiences and further enhance their reflection on these experiences. The findings also enrich the understanding of the hermeneutic circle of representation in tourists’ photo editing behavior.     

Tourism and gratitude: Valuing acts of kindness

Explorations of kindness and gratitude, a felt sense of thankfulness, are missing from tourism studies. Such explorations shed light on psychological value of relationships and social capital. We adopted a positive psychology theoretical lens to explore acts of kindness from strangers towards tourists and to understand how these acts are valued. To meet that aim, we conducted a study with twenty Canadian tourists. Through thematic analysis of semi structured, in-depth interviews, we identified these themes: trust in the other person; a sense of risk or adventurousness; novelty or authenticity of the experience; and eudaimonic growth, that is, receiving kindness from strangers indicated well-being beyond experiencing pleasures. Costs and benefits to benefactors were identified. We developed a model that explains how acts of kindness are personally valued by tourists.     

The relationship between white-water rafting experience formation and customer reaction: a flow theory perspective

White-water rafting is an exciting form of water adventure that not only satisfies the need of tourists to interact with nature, but also represents an invigorating recreational experience, thereby explaining why it has become a popular adventure tourism activity in Taiwan. Although a few studies have analyzed multiple tourist tourism experiences, there is still a lack of research adopting the flow experience perspective to understand tourist motivations when participating in rafting activities. Therefore, this study adopts the concept of flow experience to examine the relationships among experience antecedents, flow experience and result variables. The statistical results show that tourist rafting skill, level of challenge of rafting activity and playfulness significantly and positively influence tourist flow experience that, in turn, promotes a positive mood and satisfaction. Moreover, tourist satisfaction significantly and positively influences tourist loyalty. Finally, the research findings and theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Mobile technology and the tourist experience: (Dis)connection at the campsite

Mobile technology is playing an increasing role in the tourist experience and a growing body of tourism research has focused on this area. There is often an implicit assumption that tourists embrace mobile connectivity and relatively little research has explored the tourist experience of disconnection, whether purposeful or imposed by technological limitations. This study explores the desire for digital (dis)connection during camping tourism. Data compiled using interviews and a survey revealed that the tourist is not ‘always connected’ and up to 50% have some desire to disconnect. There is ambiguity about mobile technology use in tourism with dilemmas regarding the value of connectivity versus the desire to ‘get away from it all’. The analysis found digital engagement had a small effect on desire for disconnection however, patterns were not marked. The findings have implications for mobile technology solutions in tourism.     

Tourism development trends in England and experiences of recent projects

This paper considers the development prospects for tourism in England during the 1980s and beyond, and reviews a number of existing English Tourist Board (ETB) assisted projects and the ETB role in stimulating tourism in and to the UK.     

旅游体验研究:进展与思考

本文从旅游体验和体验经济两个方面的理论综述和进展追踪出发,提出了基于该两方面理论具体到体验塑造实践的应用.文章总结了旅游体验的分类、概念化发展、真实性、体验质量、体验管理等问题.基于对体验分类的理论分析,提出了通过主体体验化和支撑主题化的旅游体验塑造途径;基于考察体验的影响逻辑,提出了改善体验质量的方法.     

Campsite choice and the camping tourism experience: Investigating decisive campsite attributes using relevance-determinance analysis

Camping tourism represents a growing part of the overall tourism industry. Despite this fact, this form of tourism has so far been rather neglected by tourism and hospitality research. Using a case study of a major campsite operator in the coastal part of Croatia, this study thus aims to contribute to the understanding of this specific tourist segment. In particular, a relevance-determinance analysis is conducted to reveal most decisive attributes for campsite choice, on the one hand, and for the actual campsite experience, on the other hand. Overall, the results provide valuable insight to practitioners, especially for the purposes of campsite marketing and experience management.     

Living travel vulnerability: A phenomenological study

Most tourism-scholars have taken an etic perspective on vulnerability, defining the concept as a risk for - and mostly confined to - vulnerable populations. An emic perspective, defining vulnerability as a universal, experiential state of the human condition is anyhow largely absent. Based on forty collected experiences from interviews with twelve participants, this study adopts a phenomenological stance and demonstrates that travel vulnerability is typically lived through different inherent, situational and pathogenic sources, ranging anywhere from potential physical harm and unfamiliar contexts to heightened dependence on the other. The peak experience for the traveller is described as a loss of soundness, where vulnerability actualises from a dispositional state into a transformative experience. Through a Nietzschean lens, the study suggests a different and more complex approach to travel vulnerability, where the concept is embraced and not transcended, lived and not avoided; in order to move towards fulfilling travel experiences.     

Virtual reality tourism experiences: Addiction and isolation

This qualitative research note reports two neglected themes in research on virtual reality tourism experiences, i.e. its potentially addictive nature and temporary sense of isolation. Existing work on virtual reality tourism experiences has applied existing knowledge and theories and has solely tested how VR applications can positively mediate or moderate the tourist experience. This study adopted an inductive approach, analyzing contents of reviews and blogs, and consequently uncovered a temporary sense of isolation and the addictive nature of virtual reality as hidden themes within virtual reality tourism experiences. We stress the importance of further work on addiction and a sense of isolation in terms of their nature, role, and effects.     

论体验思维在旅游管理教学中的应用

新时期旅游人才需求日益呈现出专业化和多样化的趋势,对旅游教育发展提出了新的要求,各旅游院校人才培养和教学模式的转变迫在眉睫。一切知识源于实践,体验的过程就是实践的过程,通过体验可以培养学生的操作实践能力和创造性思维能力。本文以“体验教学”作为旅游管理教学的价值取向,探索了旅游管理教学中实践体验教学思维的基本途径。     

PARTicipative inquiry for tourist experience

Despite a wealth of research on the tourist experience, empirical evidence remains weak due to difficulties in data collection during people’s holidays. Tourist experience has thus primarily been analysed from a fixed point, such as prior motivations to travel or retrospective accounts. However, this obscures important information on tourists as they transition through the total experience. This paper presents participative inquiry as a novel methodology for the acquisition of data before, during and after the holiday; facilitating ‘prospective’, ‘active’ and ‘reflective’ triangulation (PART). We provide an empirical example of PARTicipative inquiry in practice, highlighting the benefits and challenges of this approach alongside the (otherwise) hidden insights it reveals into the responsible tourist experience.     

从体验视角看旅游的本质及旅游学科体系的构建

自从马里奥蒂首次从经济学角度对旅游现象作了系统的剖析和论证迄今已近百年,学术界对旅游本质的认识,依然呈现“诸家学说,百花齐放”的局面,严重影响了旅游学科的建构和旅游教育的发展。本文通过理性分析和比较分析两种途径来理解旅游的本质,并由此认为旅游研究应采纳从心理学视角进去,从地理学、社会学和经济学等其他学科的视角出来。整个研究的切入点应该是旅游体验。也就是说,旅游研究应该以体验作为基本视角。最后,本文以此为根基,构筑了旅游学科的基本框架。     

Social holidays as a tourist experience in Finland

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect the formation of the social holiday experience, and the role of specially arranged activities in that experience. It draws on the specific case of Finland. An intrinsic, intensive case study research strategy is applied and an ethnographic approach is taken using observation, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. The findings indicate that the social holiday experience is clearly linked to everything which took place during the holiday. This supports earlier research on service experiences. Six categories of factors contribute to the social tourism experience: interaction, physical environment, content of the activities, food and mealtime conditions, situational factors and personal factors. Social holiday clients do not expect the holiday to be anything extraordinary.     

“If I was going to die I should at least be having fun”: Travel blogs,meaning and tourist experience

Travel blogs are an under-utilised resource for researchers of tourism experiences. They can provide rich insights on how tourists express the transformational effects of their experiences for the self. This study of travel blogs by nineteen British bloggers reveals how elements of the narrative relating to self-reflection and emotions are central to the process of transforming their travel experiences into personally meaningful experiences. Bloggers implicitly and explicitly express how travel contributes to self-identity, signalling self-development. The study contributes to knowledge about the lasting impact of long term travel on people, adding meaning symbolic of an evolving self.     

Smartphone (dis)connectedness and vacation recovery

Given ubiquitous connectivity provided by modern smartphones and tablets, this research aims to determine whether the use of smartphones for social purposes (work and non-work related) during a vacation enhances or hinders the potential of tourism environment to promote a sense of recovery. In other words, which role does omnipresent connectivity play in facilitating tourists’ recovery? Drawing on Attention-Restoration Theory, Social Presence Theory, and survey data of working Chinese population, we show that frequency of work-related social presence acts as a negative moderator while quality of work and non-work social presence are positive moderators in the relationship between destination restorative qualities and vacation recovery. We discuss how these results problematize the current understanding of tourist experience as liminal and “encapsulating.”     

One museum,two stories: Place identity at the Hong Kong Museum of History

Tourism academia has attempted to individually explore the concepts of visiting experience, place identity, narratives, and history museums, but it has rarely delved into the deep and sometimes murky waters of the intimate connection among these notions. Focusing on the Museum of History in present-day identity torn Hong Kong, the current study sheds light on the identitarian and ideological implications visiting this museum has for Hong Kong born-and-raised Millennials. The findings challenge the current understanding of place identity at heritage sites of contested identity by revealing the subtle, sensitive, and fluid connections between individual and official narratives, and also among the investigated concepts. They also raise important critical assumptions about the politics of museography.