Pathways to the soul: examining the role of mindfulness, inner peace, emotional resilience, and social support in spiritual tourism

Spiritual travel has emerged as a restorative practice that promotes emotional healing, self-reflection, and inner tranquility. This study seeks to establish a framework that facilitates meaningful travel experiences and enhances emotional resilience. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to integrate conservation of resources theory (CRT) and self-determination theory (SDT) within the framework of spiritual tourism. The study investigated the spiritual travel intentions (STI) of 740 individuals. Additionally, mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among the constructs in the proposed model. Our findings indicate that emotional resilience is positively influenced by inner peace, mindfulness, and transformative experience, all of which contribute to the development of STI. Emotional resilience, inner peace, and transformative experience serve as mediators in the relationships among the underlying constructs in the model. The study's findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, local communities, retreat hosts, park managers, and travellers. This study makes a theoretical contribution by deepening the understanding of the interrelationships among inner peace, mindfulness, transformative experience, and emotional resilience within the context of spiritual tourism.