Happiness is a concept with a long tradition in philosophy and is central to understanding the meaning of human life. Research on happiness has lately flourished in many social sciences. Yet in tourism studies this concept is underexplored. This lack of attention is surprising as tourism is increasingly seen in the literature as more than a break from everyday routines. It is today more and more seen as a health and well-being activity. The discussion in this article hence complements, but differs from, recent examinations of wellness and quality of life of tourists. In this article an exploratory picture of tourists' happiness is created. The picture of tourists' happiness is created by first discussing how tourists' happiness can be interpreted; and then by discussing how tourists' happiness can be evaluated in the main phases of the travel experience—anticipatory, on site, and reflective phases. It is concluded that tourists' happiness is a state in which the tourist experiences positive emotions (joy, interest, contentment, and love), is engaged in and derives meaning from holiday activities. This conceptualization is based on a theory from positive psychology—a field from psychology that empirically assesses happiness. Tourists' positive emotions, engagement, and meaning can be evaluated through analyses of tourist motivation and satisfaction in the three tourist experience phases. Examples of analysis methods are: narratives of perfect days and cognitive maps for assessments of positive emotions, special in-depth interviews to capture engagement at tourist sites, and specific qualitative measures of meaning derived from holidays. The interpretation and the assessment approaches form an exploratory picture of tourists' happiness. This picture is important as it sheds light on the personal value and quality of tourist experiences to individuals.

Tourism research on topics such as happiness, quality of life of tourists, and tourist wellbeing has flourished in recent years. This literature clarifies the subjective value of tourist experiences, provides new directions for tourism branding and promotion, and opens doors to fresh research on the potential benefits of tourist experiences to mental health. Subjective well-being theory has been typically used by tourism researchers to help conceptualize and measure tourist happiness. In lay terms, this theory suggests that happiness is life satisfaction and pleasure; the theory is popular and useful but cannot explain tourist happiness. To craft a more complete picture of tourist happiness, a deeper qualitative appreciation of meaningful tourist experiences and special and engaging tourist moments is required. This brief critique highlights the problems of conceptualizing tourist happiness and suggests an alternative approach to the subjective well-being theory.

In recent years, tourism and positive psychology has developed as a humanist-inspired study of individual flourishing in tourism. This conceptual article aims to elaborate on epistemological foundations of tourism and positive psychology research and presents an overview of current trends and future directions for this field. The rapid rise of positive psychology within and outside tourism studies is analyzed, noting similarities and tensions between positive psychology and its predecessor, humanistic psychology. We present research highlights from the emerging field in tourism, review extant literature, discuss the limitations of this approach and suggest directions for future research. Greater focus on research about eudaimonic tourist experiences is recommended, through positive psychology lenses. Suggestions are also made to further expand the traditional focus on tourist behavior to include the well-being of host communities and tourism workers.

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