Tinder tourism: tourist experiences beyond the tourism industry realm

ABSTRACT

There is mounting evidence that an increasing number of tourists are using the dating application (‘app’) Tinder. This paper explores this phenomenon, including how Tinder users engage with the app prior to, during and following their travel, and whether their engagement aligns with theories pertaining to the stages of becoming a tourist. In order to investigate Tinder’s potential to enhance the tourism experience, the research employed a qualitative approach utilizing in depth interviews with Australians who had used Tinder while travelling. The findings demonstrate that Tinder plays a significant role in the tourism experience, for example by allowing instant access to local knowledge, and providing company for solo travellers. Further it demonstrates that Tinder tourists seek control of their own experience by using a non-traditional tourism app, which has implications for what the tourism industry can offer.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism experience
• Tinder
• online dating applications
• smartphone
• location based services
• digital elasticity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the University of Tasmania for the opportunity to conduct this research as part of the Bachelor of Business with Honours and the participants of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Elleke Leurs completed the Bachelor of Business with First Class Honours and is the Coordinator of the Tourism Research and Education Network (TRENd) at the University of Tasmania. Currently, Elleke is following her passions by combining wildlife and tourism as a PhD Candidate at the University of Tasmania with the focus of her research on the interagency between tourists and roadkill in Tasmania.

Anne Hardy is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania and the Director of the Tourism Research and Education Network (TRENd). Anne has research interests in neo-tribal marketing, the self-drive tourism market and stakeholder perspectives of tourism development. Her most recent award-winning research project used GIS and app technology to track the movement of tourists through the entire region of Tasmania, Australia.

ORCID

Elleke Leurs http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8514-522X

Anne Hardy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1461-2967