Terminal illness and tourism: a review of current literature and directions for future research

ABSTRACT

This research note explores the contributions of scholarly research into terminal illness and tourism. Through a review of previous health tourism research, our search found very limited extant literature on tourism and life-threatening and terminal illness. Specific areas where research direction is needed include a reconceptualisation of health tourism to include notions of ill-health and its implications for the tourism industry; greater understanding of the lived experiences of travellers with life-threatening or terminal illness; and consideration of the notion of care and the needs of those providing palliative care during travel. The identification of these gaps in current knowledge provides an opportunity for further development of a research agenda for ill-health and tourism, which will have substantial implications both for academia and for the medical and tourism industries.

KEYWORDS:

• Life-threatening
• terminal illness
• carers
• health and medical
• wellness tourism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Gregory Willson is a lecturer of marketing and tourism in the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. His interests are in spiritual and life-impacting travel, heritage, and environment-based tourism. He has published widely in these areas.

Alison McIntosh works as a Professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Auckland University of Technology. Alison’s main research interests are in critical approaches to tourism and hospitality studies, with a particular focus on issues of accessibility, social justice, ethics and advocacy, and community engagement. Alison holds current and previous Directorships of community organisations and regularly engages in community work aligned with her research interests.

Dale Sanders is an Associate Professor at the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University. Dale has 15 years’ experience in academia and previously held the position of course coordinator for the applied disciplines at ECU. Dale has published widely in areas including crisis and disaster management and community-based tourism.

Ashlee Morgan is a Lecturer in the School of Business and Law, teaching within the Marketing program and Sport, Recreation and Event Management program. Ashlee’s area of expertise is sport marketing. Her research interests focus on inter-organisational alliances, sponsorship, and strategic management within the sport sector. Ashlee was heavily involved in the development and growth of women’s AFL in Sydney and was the first female appointed representative on AFL Sydney’s Strategic Advisory Board.

ORCID

A. J. McIntosh http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1593-700X