Exploratory study of travel-eligible individuals with early-stage dementia: Applying the hopelessness theory of depression
Abstract
The intersection between tourism and health for vulnerable populations has become a growing focus of interdisciplinary research. This study investigates perceptions of tourism among travel-eligible individuals with early-stage dementia (aged 55–75 years), aiming to understand how tourism affects their daily lives, mental health, and travel behavior. Qualitative interviews with 31 participants revealed five themes: (1) early-stage dementia symptoms and their negative effects on daily life; (2) dementia-induced negative life experiences and depression development; (3) a dementia-induced sense of hopelessness; (4) dementia-induced depression symptoms (nondiagnosed); and (5) lack of travel intention. The hopelessness theory of depression underpins this study, illustrating how negative life events due to dementia lead to depressive symptoms and a lack of future behavioral intention. The findings provide theoretical implications for facilitating tourism for people with health conditions and for expanding this topic beyond the conceptual level. Practically, this research offers insights into developing dementia-friendly tourism destinations.
Keywords
dementia, dementia-friendly tourism, depression, hopelessness, hopelessness theory of depression, travel intention, travel-eligible individuals with dementia, vulnerable populations
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
7-1-2026
Article Number
e70399
E-ISSN
15221970
ISSN
10992340
Volume
28
Issue
4
Publication Title
International Journal of Tourism Research
Publisher
Wiley
School
Centre for Precision Health / School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
101790
Funding Information
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72572042) (Danni Zheng), Shanghai Pujiang Program (22PJC020) (Danni Zheng), the European Commission Horizon 2020 (779238-PRODEMOS) (Wei Wang), CSC (China Scholarship Council)—ECU (Edith Cowan University) Joint PhD Scholarship (No. 202109327004) (Fangli Hu), the Open Fund of the Key Research Institute of TCM Health Industry Development of the State Administration of TCM (No. GZ2022006) (Sha Sha), Research Project of Xinglin Scholar Qingji Advanced Talents Special Tourism Therapy on Quality of Life of Tourists with SAD (No. QJJJ2023016) (Sha Sha).
Copyright
subscription content
Recommended Citation
Wen, J., Zheng, D., Hu, F., Sha, S., Hou, H., & Wang, W. (2026). Exploratory study of travel-eligible individuals with early-stage dementia: Applying the hopelessness theory of depression. International Journal of Tourism Research, 28(4), Article e70399 https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.70399