Tourist transformation: an empirical analysis of female and male experiences

Recent advancements have been made in our understanding of transformative tourism, but the gap between conceptualisations and experiences has yet to be bridged. Using existing theories defining tourist transformation, this study empirically examines male and female travellers' subjective experiences and identifies types of transformation. A survey of 514 participants was conducted, and the data analysed through an exploratory factor analysis. The results suggest that tourist transformation corresponds to reflection, changing worldviews, existential transformation processes and outcomes, transformative learning outcomes, environmental sustainability awareness, cross-cultural understanding, wellbeing, and behavioural change. Significant differences between women and men's experiences were only found in two factors, namely reflection and transformative learning outcomes. These results contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of tourist transformation and indicate that there might be more to 'the' transformative travel experience.