Nostalgia in Tourism

Abstract

Tourism research has recognized nostalgia as an intrinsic motive, an emotion that tourists may experience at or after visiting a destination, and an effective appeal to market destinations. This article reviews the multifaceted roles of nostalgia in four domains: heritage tourism, sport tourism, film tourism, and contemporary tourism. The former three tourism domains have distinctive attractions that inspire nostalgia, suiting for corresponding scales for nostalgia as a motive. Moreover, nostalgia contributes to sustainable tourism and can be applied in virtual reality. Furthermore, research has uncovered nostalgia's restorative function and provided evidence of its mediating effects on the linkage between COVID-19 reactions (perceived severity, travel constraints, and the need to belong) on behavioral outcomes.

Keywords: Destination marketing; Nostalgia; Restorative function; Tourism; Travel motive.