The subjective meanings of emotions in danger zone tourism and their implication on self-identity

Abstract

Danger zone tourism constitutes tourism that happens during conflict events. This explanatory study adopts symbolic interactionism and hermeneutic phenomenology to investigate the complex dynamics of emotions in a non-hedonic tourism context in real-time. It also evaluates the subjective meanings of this unusual tourism phenomenon and its inference on individuals' self-identity. It utilised a multimodal approach integrated with electrodermal activity (EDA), participant observation, photo-elicitation, and semi-structured interviews. Data collection happened during August and September 2021 in Venezuela, a South American nation facing a humanitarian crisis. Data analysis was conducted under the principles of Gadamer's hermeneutic circle and presented as crafted stories. Findings from 10 leisure travellers show that despite negative emotions reported by all participants, danger zone travellers perceived favourable outcomes from their holidays. In addition, this study identified two major themes that represent the meanings of travelling to conflict places: 'challenge' and 'learning opportunity' and one theme associated with the contribution of these holidays to self-identity: 'self-transformation'. Lastly, the theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed. Highlights . Explores the physiological dynamics of emotions in real-time. . Adopts objective and self-reported methods to evaluate emotion dynamics before, during, and after holidays. . Explores the potential of non-hedonic tourism contexts in self-identity formation. . Integrates two philosophical perspectives named symbolic interactionism and hermeneutic phenomenology in tourism research. . Analyses emotions in tourism experiences associated with a non-hedonic context. . Extends the limited literature on danger zone tourism. . Presents tourism experiences associated with a global socio-political crisis happening in a developing nation.