https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1110-824X
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ABSTRACT
Constraints to participating in leisure activities have been studied extensively. Yet given the sensitive nature of death and death-related topics, little effort has been invested in understanding travel constraints that limit people’s decisions to engage in physician-assisted suicide travel. As this form of travel is a relatively new area of interest in the tourism literature, this study investigates the public’s perceptions of physician-assisted suicide travel by extracting online comments from user-generated content. By applying thematic content analysis with a deductive approach, a pre-coding scheme was developed based on the hierarchical constraint model. Four travel constraints were identified: perceived incapability and lack of personal support (intrapersonal constraints), lack of suitable travel agencies and services (structural constraint), and complex travel decision making. The latter consisted of two sub-dimensions: individualistic decisions (intrapersonal constraint) and collectivistic decisions (interpersonal constraint). The findings of this study help to contextualise physician-assisted suicide practices and knowledge in a tourism context. Relevant practical implications are also discussed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Jun Wen is a lecturer in tourism and hospitality management in the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University. His current research interests lie in Chinese outbound tourism marketing, behaviours, and other related aspects.
Chung-En (Joanne) Yu received a BSc in Tourism Event Management from Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) Macau. Currently she is a master student in Innovation and Management in Tourism at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. Her research interests centre on the psychological and sociological phenomena, consumer experiences and emerging technologies in tourism and hospitality.
Edmund Goh, PhD, is Deputy Director, Markets and Services Research Centre, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. He has published in leading journals such as Tourism Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Journal of Tourism and Travel Marketing, and Environmental Education Research. Edmund sees his research as the nexus to address education and industry gaps.