Well-being in digital-free tourism: A mixed-methods rhythmanalysis
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Tourism research has largely treated well-being as a motivation or outcome, neglecting how it unfolds in-situ and relying on self-report data. Through a mixed-methods rhythmanalysis, this study examines how well-being emerges and evolves in digital-free tourism. Following 23 participants through three-night digital-free cabin stays, we integrate electrodermal activity, interviews, and diaries to capture embodied experiences of disconnection. Participants experienced rhythmic re-attunement from linear, digital temporalities towards cyclical, embodied rhythms aligned with nature and interpersonal connection. Physiological data showed varied responses to disconnection and fewer detected skin conductance responses post-trip, supporting qualitative accounts of calm and rhythmic re-attunement. Through attunement, plenitude, stillness, and reflexivity, we reconceptualise well-being as a dynamic rhythmic process shaped through embodied experiences, environmental cues, and relational synchrony.
Source: Annals of Tourism Research
Institutions: University of Greenwich, University of East Anglia, Xiamen University, Canadian University of Dubai, Linnaeus University, University of Johannesburg, University of Algarve, Auckland University of Technology, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,060
OpenAlex ID: W7222390993
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