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Rethinking Transformation Tourism: Meaning, Marketing, and the Quest for Self in a Climate Emergency

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 11

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0QU, UK
Interests: tourism niches; transformation; liminality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the wake of post-Fordist shifts and a growing departure from mass-produced tourism, niche tourism markets have proliferated (Novelli, 2005), among which, transformation tourism (TT) has emerged as a significant and timely area of scholarly interest (Decrop et al., 2018). TT refers to travel experiences designed to provoke personal growth, self-discovery, and deeper connections—with oneself, others, and the world.

Rooted in transformational learning theory, TT contends that meaningful travel experiences—those involving novelty, intercultural encounters, or personal challenge—can foster expanded consciousness and existential change. This special issue invites critical engagement with TT’s promise of transformation, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, which has heightened desires for purpose, wellness, authenticity, and sustainability in travel (Chhabra, 2021).

As the climate crisis intensifies and calls for responsible tourism grow louder, it is vital to interrogate the sustainability of TT in both ecological and socio-cultural terms. Can transformative travel truly contribute to regenerative practices, climate awareness, and community empowerment—or does it risk reinforcing extractive and consumption-based paradigms under the guise of self-improvement?

Despite growing academic and commercial interest in TT (Robledo & Batle, 2017; Tomazos & Murdy, 2023), important questions remain: To what extent can transformation be engineered or marketed? How do issues of authenticity, commodification, and ethical tourism intersect with the increasingly professionalised TT industry? What types of experiences, narratives, or destinations are privileged—and which are marginalized?

We welcome original research articles, conceptual papers, and critical reviews that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Theoretical and conceptual developments in transformation tourism;
  • Post-pandemic shifts in tourist motivations and the search for meaning;
  • Marketing, branding, and commodification of transformative travel;
  • Wellness, spirituality, and the rise of retreat-based tourism;
  • Sustainability, regeneration, and environmental consciousness in TT;
  • Critical perspectives on authenticity and transformation;
  • Methodological innovations in researching transformative experiences;
  • Intersectionality, inclusivity, and power in TT narratives and practices;
  • Case studies of TT initiatives, programs, or destinations;
  • Ethical implications and critiques of TT as an industry.

We encourage contributions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including tourism studies, cultural studies, psychology, marketing, geography, environmental studies, and sociology.

Dr. Kostas Tomazos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • transformation tourism
  • tourism meaning, alienation, spirituality and wellness
  • methodological innovations
  • inclusivity, power and narrative in transformation tourism
  • cases studies in transformation tourism and sustainability
  • ethical implications

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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