Tourism Well-being Research Articles

Unveiling the nexus between duty-free shopping quality and tourism well-being: an examination of the mediating role of fun experience

ABSTRACT Shopping in duty-free stores plays an increasingly important role in tourism, but few studies have focused on the impact of tourists’ shopping experience and enjoyment on their satisfaction. This study aims to examine how shopping quality affects the well-being of tourists, with a specific focus on the role of fun experience (including hedonic engagement, sense of liberation, and sense of fun) as a mediator. This research fills a gap in the existing literature by carefully analysing how shopping quality and fun experiences enhance tourists’ well-being. A cross-cultural sample was surveyed using quantitative methods to ensure the results were universally applicable. Based on 514 valid questionnaires, the study uses Structural Equation Modelling to analyse the data and draw several conclusions. First, the study finds that shopping quality positively impacts tourists’ fun experience. Second, it confirms that fun experience is a significant source of well-being for tourists. Third, the study shows that fun experiences mediate between shopping quality and well-being. Finally, the research confirms that hedonic engagement and a sense of liberation are foundational to a sense of fun. These findings offer crucial insights for retail managers and marketers in developing strategies to enhance shopping experiences and improve consumer satisfaction and well-being.

Exploring Chinese Tourists’ Well-Being Through a Confucian Lens: A Multi-Focal Model

ABSTRACT Despite exponential growth in research interest in the psychological benefits derived from travel experiences, existing conceptualizations of well-being in tourism predominantly adopt Western perspectives. This conceptual paper proposes a multifocal model for understanding tourist well-being through a Confucian lens. By comparing the five cardinal Confucian virtues with Aristotelian well-being perspectives, this multidimensional framework integrates traditional and modern well-being insights, depicting eleven dimensions of Chinese tourists’ psychological well-being. This manuscript contributes a multi-focal model of Chinese tourist well-being, which extends the traditional one-dimensional Confucian perspectives on well-being toward a two-dimensional framework which includes eudaimonic and hedonic aspects. Future studies should conduct empirical work designed to clarify conceptual and terminological ambiguity and advance discourse on the integration of Eastern perspectives into the study of tourist well-being.

Research on the formation process and elements of the solo tourist’s well-being based on the grounded theory

ABSTRACT Although the single group and the single economy have increased rapidly, the growing group of tourists-solo tourists has been neglected by scholars for a long time. This paper takes them as the research object and explores their happiness via travel. Based on the network text data, the paper finds that the formation of solo tourists’ well-being can be divided into three stages, which are the anticipation before traveling alone, the experience during travel, and the happiness precipitation after traveling alone. The well-being of ST is a complex concept which includes 8 categories. There are similarities and differences between the happiness of solo tourists and that of ordinary tourists. The pleasure is the same as ordinary tourists’ well-being. The sense of escape, meaning of life, and gain are similar and different. The sense of control, reality, freedom, and ease are the unique facts of ST’s well-being. The research reveals the formation process of ST’s well-being and the richness of their connotations, providing a theoretical basis for stimulating the well-being of the unique group and enriching and expanding the research results of tourism well-being.

Mental health and well-being in tourism: a Horizon 2050 paper

Purpose This paper aims to review research on mental health and well-being (MHW) in tourism, which the United Nations addresses in Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 (SDG 3). The authors also pinpoint future directions regarding how tourism can contribute to this goal from theoretical and practical standpoints. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the literature on MHW in tourism from the perspectives of tourists, residents and tourism workers. Findings Researchers have predominantly analysed tourists’ MHW outcomes through the lenses of positive psychology and tourism therapy; only a small number of studies have focused on MHW-related benefits and challenges in terms of tourism development for residents and tourism workers. Investigations of MHW in tourism require interdisciplinary approaches to reveal how tourism promotes diverse stakeholders’ mental health. Practically, there is an urgent need to incorporate tourism products and services into mental health care, and design tourism experience with positive psychology principles. Originality/value This study offers insights into fostering MHW through tourism. It specifically proposes theoretical and practical ways in which tourism might enhance MHW for various industry stakeholders, contributing to SDG 3.

The influence mechanism of travel livestreaming's (TLS) characteristics on users' tourism well-being

ABSTRACT An emerging new format, travel livestreaming (TLS), has recently elicited increasing academic attention. However, previous studies have only discussed the marketing value of TLS and overlooked its virtual tourism value. The present study analyzed 365 valid data through PLS-SEM and found that user's experience in TLS could generate a sense of virtual tourism well-being. Specifically: (1) users' immersion, authentic, and thinking experiences positively affect their sense of tourism well-being in TLS; (2) virtual travel satisfaction plays an incomplete mediating role in the impact of immersion (positive mediating), authentic (positive mediating) and thinking experiences (negative mediating) on tourism well-being; (3) individual innovation preference weakens the positive impact of immersion, authentic and thinking experiences on virtual travel satisfaction; and (4) individual innovation preference plays a negative moderating role in the influence of virtual travel satisfaction on tourism well-being. These research findings have significance for developing virtual tourism with emerging media technology and for the protection of scenic spots.

Responsible Behaviour and Psychological Well-being in Tourism: The Triple Helix Model

While the conceptually related fields of sustainability and psychological well-being have been informed by extensive research in recent years, efforts to integrate these fields are yet to be systematically advanced. This lack of integration has left the nexus between sustainability and well-being largely underexplored and conceptually underdeveloped. Tourism offers a novel context within which to explore the intersection. Consequently, this paper critically assesses the relationship between sustainability-related decisions and tourist well-being. It is informed by the analysis of thirty semi-structured in-depth interviews that critically explored the holiday experiences of tourists while travelling internationally. Analysis revealed that both responsible and irresponsible tourist behaviours are interconnected with tourists’ psychological well-being and are influenced by external barriers and internal conflicts. Responsible behaviours were found to contribute to eudaimonic well-being through a heightened sense of perceived integrity. Conversely, irresponsible behaviours trigger negative self-appraisals, enacting coping mechanisms and generating guilt. This manuscript presents the triple helix model detailing the complex and interconnected relationship between (ir)responsible behaviour and psychological well-being in tourism experiences. Future research should consider the intricate connections between tourists’ sustainability-related decisions and psychological well-being as central to the developing sustainable tourism research agendas.

Effects of the guest experience, well-being, and eWOM intention for resort hotels: A positive psychology perspective

Guests' experience in an experiencescape (e.g., resort hotel) is a critical pathway for them to cultivate hedonic and eudaimonic well-being from the perspective of positive psychology. Nonetheless, the mechanism between guests' experience, hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, altruism and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) intention remains unexplored. This study utilized the stimuli–organism–response (SOR) model to advance the understanding of the psychological mechanism underlying guests' experience, well-being and eWOM intention by further integrating altruism as a moderator. In total, 445 questionnaires from China were analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results illustrated significant mediating effects of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being between guests' experience and eWOM intention. Unexpectedly, altruism had no moderating effect on eWOM intention. Theoretically, this paper extends the SOR model's application to experiencescapes by describing novel stimuli and organisms, and to enrich the understanding of well-being in tourism and hospitality. Practically, this paper provides guidelines for resort hotel marketers and operators to identify the mechanism of guests' voluntary eWOM behavior and to devise strategies for encouraging more active eWOM.

Exploring the Mechanisms of Well-Being Occurrence Among Event Tourists: Mixed Empirical Evidence from Positive Psychology.

This study explores the well-being dimensional components of event tourists and their identification processes in validating the well-being occurrence mechanism of event tourism and the correlation between the well-being of event tourists and the frequency and length of event tourism. This study adopted a sequential mixed-methods design that followed a pragmatic paradigm through a photo interview with event tourists and festival travel organizers (N=16). The qualitative research method provided evidence to explore the framework of content and dimensional identification of event tourists' well-being according to Seligman's PERMA model. The quantitative research phase (N=475) focused on identifying and validating the PERMA model in the event tourist well-being dimension through descriptive statistical analysis and validated factor analysis, followed by a one-way analysis of covariance to explore the effects of the frequency and endurance of FSE tourism. The results show quantitative differences in the well-being dimensions and framework presentation of the PERMA model (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, and Achievement). R (relationship) and A (achievement) are identified and validated as dimensions of well-being outcomes for event tourists, while single-day or short trips of 2-3 days were most significant for event tourists' perceived well-being. This study provides an empirical argument, thus providing an empirical argument for uncovering the deeper influencing and exhibiting factors of the PERMA theoretical framework and a research paradigm for PERMA theory in more tourism behaviors and psychology. Second, this study provides an in-depth explanation of the five dimensions of well-being in the PERMA model. The findings show the salience of the relationship and achievement in FSE tourism well-being, providing theoretical insight into existing studies integrating positive psychology models for in-depth tourism well-being research.

The moderating effect of perceived organizational support: The impact of psychological capital and bidirectional work-family nexuses on psychological wellbeing in tourism.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has inflicted unprecedented damage on the tourism industry. However, the psychological health fallout of COVID-19 on tour guides has not received empirical attention yet. Therefore, the present study aims to examine how psychological capital (PsyCap) improve tour guides' psychological wellbeing (PWB), the mediating effects of work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict (FWC), work-family facilitation (WFF) and family-work facilitation (FWF), and the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS). For this quantitative research, the data were collected from 276 tour guides in China. The results indicate that PsyCap significantly mitigates two directions of work-family conflict and intensifies two directions of work-family facilitation in order to promote tour guides' PWB. Furthermore, POS moderates the direct effects of two directions of conflict and facilitation on PWB and also moderates the indirect effects of PsyCap on the aforesaid outcome via two directions of conflict and facilitation. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future research directions are provided.

The Impact of Age Generation on Tourism Well-Being among Homestay Guests at Langkawi Island

Behaviour of tourists among Generation Y, Generation X, and Baby Boomers is often uncertain while travelling. Tourism well-being is happiness during travelling, which produces a better healthy body (physical) and mind (mental). There is an arising literature body on ecosystem services in a culture that focuses on human well-being, despite that the tourism attachment was underexplored with a few exceptions, such as age categories. This paper aims to analyse the impact of age category on tourism well-being among homestay guests at Langkawi Island. This paper was conducted using a quantitative method, and the data was collected by simple random sampling. The questionnaires were distributed to the homestay owner at the several homestays at Langkawi Island. Then, their homestay guest answered and was the respondent for this study. There are 364 respondents in this study. The Tourism Well-Being (TWB) was measured using eight dimensions: our establishment, services, host provider, price, novelty, hedonism, social value, and satisfaction. This paper found that Generation Y is highest tourism well-being, followed by Generation X. In contrast, the age generation with the lowest tourism well-being is Baby Boomers (BB). This research contributes and gives insight to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MOTAC) in promoting homestay tourism activities in Langkawi Island.

Progress in research on seniors' well-being in tourism: A systematic review

Research on well-being has experienced exponential growth in tourism studies. However, knowledge about well-being of seniors in tourism is still limited, and thus conceptually underdeveloped, despite the growth of the ageing population and increased research focus on the subject. Consequently, the purpose of this review is to provide a holistic understanding of seniors' well-being in tourism, delineate the current research status, then identify gaps and future avenues for research. A systematic quantitative literature review was conducted, leading to 56 eligible articles extracted for subsequent analysis. By mapping the current state of knowledge, the study indicates a need for a comprehensive theoretical framework based on a holistic view of seniors' well-being in tourism. The findings of the systematic review suggest the need for a eudaimonic approach to the topic and research from residents' perspectives. Suggestions are made to investigate constraints to well-being and cultural differences in conceptions of seniors' well-being in tourism.

The reciprocity of soil, soul and society: the heart of developing regenerative tourism activities

PurposeThe study aims to investigate how tourism actors' methodologies fuel the development of regenerative activities anchored in the reciprocity of nature and humans directed at bringing well-being for all living beings.Design/methodology/approachTo shed light on micro-scale regenerative creation processes in tourism, the authors engage in co-creative case study research with the owners of a small value-driven tourism firm in Arctic Norway in their creation of activities that strengthen the human–nature relation.FindingsThe authors found that the values of the tourism firm's owners constitute the soul creating regenerative activities based on the reciprocity of soil and society. Thus, the authors posit that soil, soul and society are at the core of developing regenerative tourism activities. A key finding identified is that it is challenging for small eco-centric driven firms to co-create regenerative tourism activities within a capitalocentric system. For regenerative activities to become regenerative tourism practices, multiple actors across levels of operations must act as responsible gardeners.Originality/valueThe study extends current literature on regenerative tourism by providing in-depth insights into the methodology, illustrated through soil, soul and society, guiding one small tourism firm's development of regenerative tourism activities and what drives these processes. The study also contributes knowledge that broadens the use of well-being in tourism to better address current capitalocentric challenges limiting the development of regenerative practices.

Digital-Free Tourism Holiday as a New Approach for Tourism Well-Being: Tourists' Attributional Approach.

Digital-free tourism (DFT) has recently attracted tourism service providers’ attention for its benefits in terms of enhancing tourists’ experiences and well-being at destinations. DFT refers to tourists who are likely to voluntarily avoid digital devices and the Internet on holiday, or travel to destinations without network signals. DFT has advantages for tourists in increasing well-being, mental health, and social networking during their journeys. DFT also has a benefit for tourism marketers in that they can consider it as a new tourism approach. However, there is a lack of studies into tourists’ locus of control (LOC) while experiencing DFT holidays. LOC refers to how individuals assign the responsibility of event outcomes—whether they assign it to themselves (internal LOC) or they say it is beyond their control (external LOC). Therefore, the current study contributes to investigating tourists’ LOC impacts while experiencing DFT holidays. The study relies on semi-structured interviews with millennial tourists who have experienced DFT holidays. The study findings reveal that millennial tourists with an internal LOC (vs. external) are more likely to perceive the DFT advantages (vs. obstacles) during and after the DFT holidays. However, millennial tourists with external LOC incrementally change their attitudes and perceive the DFT holiday benefits through their self-efficacy enhancement. The findings propose managerial strategies for developing effective DFT holidays for millennial tourists regarding their LOC.

Host Population Well-Being through Community-Based Tourism and Local Control: Issues and Ways Forward

The importance and role of tourism around the world is not new; it is enough to mention that tourism represents one of the fastest-growing and most profitable global economic sectors. However, tourism has negative impacts in destinations, such as the displacement and relocation of communities and disruption of economic systems, socio-political processes and organizations. It must be recognized that new strategies are required, because growth itself is not sufficient to fight poverty and inequality. Local people, especially the disadvantaged sections of the communities, need to be protagonists and able to control the tourism sector and benefit from it. The aim of this paper is to contribute to wellbeing, sustainability, and tourism research by proposing issues and ways forward related to enhancing well-being through community-based tourism (CBT). The paper is divided into three sections. The first focuses on CBT approaches. The second concerns the conceptual framework of wellbeing, with special emphasis on wellbeing in tourism, including host/guest relations; we present different evaluations of wellbeing, e.g., (socio-cultural, psychological, economic, and environmental). The third section discusses how wellbeing is presented in CBT and proposes ways forward for research. The paper is theoretical, and is based on previous literature and institutional and organizational documents.

Participation in Active Sport Tourism and Life Satisfaction: Comparing Golf, Snowboarding, and Long-Distance Running

Research has shown that participation in sport tourism can enhance wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between wellbeing generated through participation in active sport tourism and overall life satisfaction. Three different types of active sport tourism (i.e., golf, snowboarding, and long-distance running) were compared to explore whether the type of experience impacts the relationship between active sport tourism wellbeing and life satisfaction. Broaden-and-build theory was used as a theoretical foundation. Data were collected via an online self-administered questionnaire. Respondents were recruited via a Qualtrics panel (N = 418). Analysis of variance indicated that snowboarders rated the positive emotions acquired from active sport tourism significantly lower than golfers and runners. Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression showed a significantly stronger relationship between positive emotions and life satisfaction for golfers and runners compared to snowboarders. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Destination Emotions, Loneliness, and Reasons to Travel: Predictors and Moderators of Tourism Well-being

This study aims to determine predictors and moderators of tourism well-being among destination emotions (DES) (total, joy, love, and positive surprise), loneliness (UCLA) (total, affinities, and isolation) and reasons to travel. Regression and moderation analyses were carried out; factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory) to validate the emotions destination scale were performed. Marital status, family as a reason to travel, love (DES), positive surprise (DES), and affinities (UCLA) explain tourism well-being variance. Of the motivations for traveling, only family and work proved to moderate the relationship between DES and its subscales and tourism well-being. Traveling in Portugal or abroad was a moderator in the relationship between DES and its subscales and tourism well-being. The relationship between destination emotions and tourism well-being is stronger when people do not travel for family or work; this relationship is also stronger when people travel within Portugal than when traveling outside Portugal.

Destination Emotions, Loneliness, and Reasons to Travel: Predictors and Moderators of Tourism Well-being

Destination Emotions, Loneliness, and Reasons to Travel: Predictors and Moderators of Tourism Well-being

Tourism Well-Being and Transitioning Island Destinations for Sustainable Development

The unprecedented growth of tourism over the last century has led to increasing concerns over the sustainable development of many popular tourism destinations throughout the globe. High concentrations of tourists and residents, especially in urbanized areas, have heightened this concern with the arrival of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Over reliance on tourism has left residents vulnerable to external factors, such as the coronavirus pandemic that has halted tourists from coming to this remote destination. As a result, Hawaii’s overall economy is suffering greatly. A survey was developed and distributed to potential tourists in order to acquire their perceptions regarding tourism and well-being, as well as the COVID-19 outbreak. The focus of this study was to examine practices in tourism that moves beyond solely economics which will allow repositioning in a manner that promotes the well-being of both residents and tourists and to transition this unique tourism destination for sustainable development practices for the future. One of the results from the study reported that the majority of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that testing for COVID-19 should be a travel requirement prior to flying to Hawaii, as well as having an additional COVID-19 test administered upon arrival.

Tea drinking and the tastescapes of wellbeing in tourism

Due to the increasing concern with physical and mental wellbeing, people realize the need to get away from the routines of domestic life and travel to tourist destinations. We propose the notion of tastescape to demonstrate one specific task—tea drinking in a tourist setting—to promote wellbeing. Through the lens of tastescape, as a combination of material elements, practices, and places, we emphasize that tea drinking offers a way to understand the spatial, temporal, and social relations through which wellbeing unfolds in the therapeutic qualities of tourist destinations. The study case is Lijiang Old Town, a well-known destination in Yunnan province, southwestern China. Specifically, this paper has two objectives. First, it explores why and how guesthouse owners in Lijiang organize tea activities to socialize with tourists. Second, we examine why some tourists favor tea drinking for relaxation and comfort. The tastescapes of wellbeing are threefold: spatially, building closeness to nature, sparked by absorption into the place that tourists visit; temporally, slowing down to taste tea and thus enjoy a different rhythm of life; and socially, building connection with hosts and other tourists through tea conversations. The tastescapes of wellbeing spell out the relational nature of wellbeing as something that actually happens between human beings and their surroundings rather than an intrinsic set of qualities. The emphasis on tastescape in this paper offers a valuable means to understand wellbeing as the outcome of interactions that happen in the timespace of tourism through the dynamic interplay of tourists, tea, and socionatural environments.

Psychometric analysis of the Tourism Wellbeing Scale (TWS): a multidisciplinary approach.

This paper analyses the Tourism Wellbeing Scale, a new measure in the tourism sector built from Positive Psychology variables: wellbeing, creativity, optimism, and spirituality. It empathizes the importance of multidisciplinary work and thus it focuses on a psychological approach to understand wellbeing in tourism. The empirical research used Exploratory Factor Analysis (n=429) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n=428). Reliability through Cronbach' Alpha was .874 and evidence of convergent validity was found with the Creative personality scale-short form, Global wellbeing scale, optimism scale, and spirituality scale. A final 8-item structure, with a one-factor solution and confirmatory analysis with: a) Normed Chi-squared (χ2/df) =1.076; b) Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) =.041; c) Goodness of Fit (GFI) =.992; d) Adjusted Goodness of Fit (AGFI) =.977; e) Comparative Fit Index (CFI) =.999; and f) the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) =.013 was obtained. Overall, this instrument has an adequate goodness-of-fit and acceptable psychometric quality to be used in the field. This study is an innovation in bringing a new instrument to the field based on psychological principles with the potential to help stakeholders in the development of new marketing products where wellbeing can be a major turn-point for the tourism industry.