Solo Tourists' Experience-Sharing Tendency: Its Role on Well-Being

Abstract

This study aims to address a gap in the literature by examining how individuals with solo travel experience interpret their tendency to share experiences, the role of such sharing in others’ decisions to travel solo, and its contribution to their well-being within the framework of modern well-being theories. Adopting a phenomenological qualitative research design, the study focuses on Turkish tourists with solo travel experience. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 22 participants and analyzed using descriptive analysis. Findings indicate that experience-sharing behavior supports the positive relations dimension of Ryff’s psychological well-being theory, as well as the social contribution, social integration, and social acceptance dimensions of Keyes’s social well-being theory. The results demonstrate that sharing solo travel experiences holds deeper meaning for the sharer and positively contributes to both individual well-being and others’ solo travel decisions, extending the solo travel experience beyond the journey itself.