Beyond happiness and meaning: a psychologically rich framework for understanding how tourism alleviates loneliness among empty-nest youth

While loneliness has become a pressing health threat, whether tourism can alleviate loneliness remains unclear. By investigating the empty-nest (solo-living) youth, the study aims to explore the mechanisms underpinning tourism’s potential to alleviate loneliness. Rooted in psychological richness theory, findings reveal that tourists’ positive emotions, social belonging, and social support significantly enhance psychological richness, characterized by interest, diversity, and perspective-shifting, which, in turn, mitigate loneliness. Females, long-term group travelers, and frequent tourists show stronger effects, suggesting demographic and travel characteristics moderate these pathways. Practical implications include designing group-based and gender-sensitive travel programs to foster social connectedness among solo-living youth.