Exploring mindfulness and stories in tourist experiences

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for understanding tourist experiences based on concepts from evolutionary, cognitive and social psychology. This framework integrates concepts from mindfulness theory and story-telling theory and seeks to better explain the nature of tourist experiences. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews some core conceptual approaches to understanding the concept of experience as a psychological driver in tourism. It will then set a series of research questions and explore some of these through a qualitative analysis of tourist stories and experiences in two South African destinations – Kruger National Park and Soweto. This analysis combines participant observation, content analysis of promotional literature and tourist blogs. Findings Evidence supports a set of propositions derived from integrating mindfulness and storytelling theory. Stories do play a significant role in encouraging mindful visitors and supporting more positive tourist experiences. Originality/value This paper combines two different approaches to understanding tourist experiences to create a new framework for understanding the cognitive processes involved in tourist experiences and how these link to outcomes.