A decade of progress in tourist experience research: five macro-level trends

Abstract

This manuscript critically assesses progress in tourist experience research. A systematic review of 356 published articles on the tourist experience revealed studies are predominantly guided by the positivist paradigm, psychology-oriented, and survey-based. Quantitative methods dominated by structural equation modelling are prevalent, with advanced methodological approaches emerging, but still in their infancy. Five macro-level trends are articulated to advance discourse on the tourist experience, specifically: an internationalization of authorship; a movement from atheoretical to theoretical; a shift from single to multi-subject view; a trend from correlation analysis to causal inference; and a transformation from behaviourism to cognitivism. This research develops a conceptual model, termed the I-T-A (Issues-Trends-Avenues) framework, to apply the macro-level trends to shape a future research agenda.