Couched in the context of the experience economy 3.0, this research conceptualized transformations as changes in existential authenticity and anxiety, and phenomenologically explored the essence of a transformative tourist experience and subsequent long-term changes. This research uncovered nine chronologically ordered themes in which existentially oriented concerns were prevalent. It found that tourists did not reflect on existential givens in situ until a triggering episode initiated the meaning-making process. Existential anxiety felt post-trip was found to motivate tourists to resolve pertinent existential dilemmas and to initiate meaningful life changes. Participants sustained enhanced existential authenticity and became more sensitive to existential anxiety in their lives thereafter.
This research introduced the concept of intercultural sensitivity to investigate the relationships between the context of volunteer tourism and the change in intercultural sensitivity, empirically assessing the supposition that volunteer tourism facilitates cross-cultural understanding. As a theoretical backdrop, the study utilized Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) postulating that one's journey towards greater intercultural sensitivity consists of six consecutive stages along the enthnocentrism-ethnorelativism continuum. Canonical correlation analysis of the survey data revealed that quality of interaction with the host community was the most significant predictor of change in intercultural sensitivity. Additionally, this study demonstrated that volunteer tourism is linked to positive and negative changes in intercultural sensitivity and therefore has the potential to simultaneously promote and inhibit cross-cultural understanding.
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