Citation

Gao J, Kerstetter DL. Ann. Tour. Res. 2018; 69: 1-14.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.annals.2017.12.004

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Emotion regulation is a psychological intervention tourists use to maximize the positive outcomes of their travel experiences. Tourists either down-regulate negative emotions (e.g., from sad to happy) or up-regulate positive emotions (e.g., from happy to happier). The construct of emotion regulation was used as a guiding framework to uncover which emotion regulation strategies tourists used during their vacations. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Study findings revealed tourists used three phases of emotion regulation strategies--interpersonal, situational, and intrapersonal--during their vacations. These findings not only contribute to tourism research by documenting the transient, dynamic and variable nature of emotions, but also provide a glimpse into how tourism and hospitality professionals should modify programs/experiences in response to tourists' emotions.

Language: en

Keywords

Emotions; Happiness; Tourism experience; Tourist behavior; Well-being