Recovery from trauma: Using liminality as a framework to explore wellness tourism

Individuals who experience a psychic trauma (sudden, overwhelming or intense emotional shock or shocks) may be motivated to seek travel experiences as a pathway to recovery. Using an inductive, grounded theory approach, the research investigated the lived experiences of 16 non-traditional, travellers who sought recovery from a traumatic event(s). Participants were drawn from a variety of countries and ranged in ages from 25-60 years. The theoretical lens of liminality was applied to understand and analyse their travel experiences in response to trauma. Liminality provides an avenue for analysis of the spaces, places, boundaries, and transitions that travellers cross both temporarily and spatially. The liminal stages of separation, transition and aggregation were evident in participant stories. However, the stages are both multi-dimensional and chaotic. While living through and within liminality, participants’ journeys were not temporally linear or one-directional. The transformation through the liminal phase, subsequently energised participants to affect their own re-creation and rise above the social, personal, and/or environmental traumas that initiated their travel experiences. In contrast to traditional liminality theory, the transformation is a normalising process via which the traveller regains their sense of self. Implications from this study are that industry stakeholders should seek greater understanding of various, more commonly experienced psychic traumas (work-related stress for example) and the impacts and consequences of these for travellers. This may inform thinking in the wellness tourism genre as well as the traditional vacation industry practice. Further investigation is needed to establish new products, services and tourism expectations to be better suited to traumatised travellers living and recovering through liminality.