How tourism memory boosts creativity? The role of openness to experience

Abstract

Although tourism memory is widely regarded as a valuable commodity, scant research examines its influence on creativity, a crucial factor for individual and organizational success. Moreover, while both travel and work are vital for human functioning, there are inconsistent views on whether they are opposing domains. This research aims to fill these gaps by investigating the unique characteristics of tourism memories and their effect on creativity at the individual level. Across four studies, we demonstrate that merely recalling one's tourism memory - even from a long time ago - increases creativity. We have also found that this effect is mediated by an increased state of openness to experience triggered by tourism memory retrieval, and one's trait openness moderates this effect. Our research contributes to the literature on tourism, management, and psychology, also offering insights for marketers and organizations to leverage the potential of tourism memories to foster creativity and success.