Positive Psychology and Tourism: Positive Tourism

Positive psychology is a growing global research field of psychology that has flourished in the last two decades. Positive psychology suggests that the positive human future depends not only on minimising inextricable suffering but also on focusing on personal growth, well-being, and flourishing. Researchers in positive psychology have focused their investigations on topics such as well-being, happiness, optimism, humour, positive emotions, and character strengths that broadly relate to quality of life research. This chapter aims to provide a review of developments in positive psychology and presents an overview of the development of positive psychology, specifically in tourism research. First, a link is made to the central theme of the handbook by exploring how positive psychology as a domain of inquiry links to the broader world of quality of life research. This discussion is followed by a general examination of the historical development of positive psychology as a research field and the discussion of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being as the core focus of positive psychology research. A brief overview of recent developments in positive psychology and tourism research, positive tourism research, is then presented. A discussion of positive tourism studies relating to tourists and their experiences, host communities, and tourism workers is provided for the readers. Ideas for the future development of positive tourism research are outlined.