Tourist Wellbeing: Re-Thinking Hedonic and Eudaimonic Dimensions

Abstract

Research on tourists’ eudaimonic and hedonic wellbeing has grown exponentially in the tourism literature. The paper re-examines the conceptualization of psychological tourist wellbeing. While there is agreement that tourist wellbeing is multidimensional in nature, it is unclear what specific dimensions, or psychological domains, underpin tourists’ hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Models that summarize these domains seemingly overlap, notably the PERMA and DRAMMA models. Ideas on re-conceptualizing tourist wellbeing are proposed. A new conceptual model re-organizing hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of tourists’ psychological wellbeing is presented for consideration in future research. This new model is termed DREAMA. It consists of the following dimensions: detachment-recovery (DR); engagement (E); affiliation (A); meaning (M); and achievement (A). The new affiliation dimension now includes both social connections and tourists’ connections with the natural environments, thus reframing tourist wellbeing conceptualization beyond human-to-human contact.

The importance of food and beverages in wellness experiences: a cross-continental analysis of tourists' perceptions

“…At the same time, food can be a key element in creating wellness experiences characterized as a hedonic rather than eudaimonic feature (Filep et al. , 2022; Ahn et al.…”

“…At the same time, food can be a key element in creating wellness experiences characterized as a hedonic rather than eudaimonic feature (Filep et al, 2022;Ahn et al, 2019;Voigt et al, 2010). According to the hedonic model (Rahmani et al, 2018), well-being is primarily related to momentary pleasure, enjoyment and positive emotions, i.e.…”

Webcam travel: A preliminary examination of psychological well-being

“…A viewer-oriented conceptual model which has been guided by the literature review is proposed to illustrate the relationship between webcam travel and psychological well-being (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.Webcam Travel DREAMA Model (Adapted from Filep et al (2022) DREAMA tourist well-being model).

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“…In Jarratt’s study (2021a: 162) webcam travel experiences were found to lead to “a sense of fascination and engagement”. The remaining DREAMA (Filep et al, 2022) dimensions are also generated by the virtual experience, notably affiliation to nature and other people, meaning and achievement. Affiliation with the digital nature has been identified as an important quality of webcam travel experience (Darcy et al, 2022; Jarratt, 2021a).…”

“…These have included the PERMA (positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement) model which comprises five building blocks of well-being (Seligman, 2004) and the DRAMMA model which proposes five well-being dimensions of the leisure experience (including tourist experiences): detachment-recovery, autonomy, mastery, meaning, and affiliation (DRAMMA) (Newman et al, 2014). Recently, Filep et al (2022) proposed a new model entitled DREAMA (detachment-recovery, engagement, affiliation, meaning and achievement) that adopts a holistic perspective to explain eudaimonic and hedonic psychological well-being. DREAMA extends beyond PERMA and DRAMMA by applying the relationship (affiliation) dimension to both social and natural environments.…”