Re‐thinking tourist wellbeing: An integrative model of affiliation with nature and social connections

Abstract

Research on positive psychological outcomes of tourism has experienced exponential growth. However, a critical dimension of tourist wellbeing, affiliation, remains underexplored and conceptually underdeveloped. This study draws on 26 in‐depth interviews with international tourists to Fiji to explore the influence of affiliation with nature and social connectedness on tourist wellbeing. Findings demonstrate the integral role of travel companionship, tourist affiliation with nature and connection with local people as critical determinants of positive psychological outcomes. An integrative model across the domains of gaze, practice and reflection is developed to demonstrate how affiliation with nature and social connectedness influence tourist wellbeing. Future research should explore the multi‐sensual character and the therapeutic potential of tourist social encounters and interactions with nature and subsequent implications for tourist wellbeing.

The Impact and Spatial Spillover Effects of Tourism Development on Urban Welfare: Empirical Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta in China

“…For a considerable period, the discussion surrounding the connection between tourism and welfare has primarily focused on the micro-level analysis of whether tourists can derive happiness from their travel experiences. This includes the research on the disparities between various types of tourism activities in generating blissful tourism experiences [10][11][12], the pathways to enhancing blissful tourism for tourism consumer groups with distinct characteristics [13][14][15], and the mechanism behind generating tourism happiness experiences [2,16,17]. Under the wave of the massification and popularization of tourism activities, the studies above have laid a solid foundation for the rational cognition of whether tourism possesses the attributes of a happiness industry.…”