Journaling memorable and meaningful tourism experiences

Abstract

Reminiscing on memorable travel experiences is a common practice amongst many travellers. This study introduces positive psychology interventions – cultivation of character strengths and savouring strategies - to examine memorable and meaningful tourism experiences (MMEs). Although both interventions aim to increase well-being, little research has been conducted on their roles in enriching MMEs. MMEs are fundamental to understand as part of the travel reminiscence process. MMEs could be heightened by connecting tourists’ past experiences with their character strengths (capacities for ways of behaving). Savouring, on the other hand, facilitates the connections to places. The reminiscence process helps tourists gain self-knowledge and make well-being oriented choices in their future journeys. In so doing, this research study created an interactive strengths-based journal that facilitated tourists to incorporate their character strengths in their past MMEs. The narratives were structured to connect explicit experiential components, such as tourism activities, with implicit psychological factors, such as emotions, character strengths, and values. Data collection involved ten tourists of diverse nationalities who created 51 MME narratives. Participants were then invited to savour their strengths used, reflect on their narratives, and express their behavioural intentions for their next trip. Data analysis, using grouped frequency distributions, found that MMEs were associated with the moderate strengths rather than the signature (prominent) strengths of the participants, such as curiosity and gratitude. Appreciation of beauty and excellence was the most dominant strength observed. The findings showed participants preferred their future journeys to be congruent with their character strengths. Theoretical and practical implications for tourist experience research are outlined.