Travel-based learning: unleashing the power of destination curiosity

ABSTRACT

International travel has been historically influenced by interest in foreign cultures and environments. Despite its deep roots in curiosity and exploratory behavior, curiosity-driven travel is underrepresented in modern tourism scholarship. Curiosity, vital for exploratory actions, plays a significant role in travelers’ behaviors, influencing travel for learning about diverse societies and cultures. This study (1) underscored destination curiosity as the zeal for travel exploration, (2) devised a Destination Curiosity scale using mixed methods, (3) validated the scale’s predictive capability concerning cultural identity’s impact on visit intentions, and (4) expanded tourism literature, aiding entities in crafting experiences that stimulate curiosity and learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Exploratory behavior
• curiosity
• travel-based learning
• need for cognition
• destination curiosity
• cultural identity
• travel experience
• international travel
• travel enthusiasm
• parsimonious scale

Acknowledgments

In the course of writing this paper, the authors greatly benefited from the advice provided by Professor Larry Yu (Professor, School of Business, George Washington University) and Dr. Trenton Mize (Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Purdue University, and a core faculty member in the Advanced Methodologies at Purdue (AMAP)). We are also thankful for their insightful comments on the final draft of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.