Themed Issue: Travel and Healthcare: Intersection of Travel, Healthcare and Wellbeing

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Themed Issue Curators

YunYing (Susan) Zhong, University of Central Florida, USA, [email protected]

Alan Fyall, University of Central Florida, USA, [email protected] 

Dimitrios Buhalis, Bournemouth University, UK, [email protected]

Daisy Xuefeng Fan, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, [email protected]

Introduction

In a world characterized by increasing human mobility, the intersection of travel and healthcare has emerged as a critical area of inquiry. People travel for many reasons, such as medical treatment, wellness enhancement, business obligations, and leisure, all of which carry implications for individual and collective well-being. This evolving landscape challenges traditional boundaries between healthcare systems, hospitality practices, and public health governance.

Research has shown that travel experiences are closely tied to physical, psychological, and social well-being. For instance, Suess et al. (2020) found that the feeling of “being at home” in accommodation environments, such as Airbnb lodgings or hotels, significantly influences healthcare travelers’ well-being, emphasizing the emotional and spatial dimensions of care away from home. Complementing this, Kemppainen et al. (2021) identified a growing diversity in health and wellness-related travel, with motivations ranging from preventive health practices to recovery and rehabilitation, signaling an expansion of how “health travel” is conceptualized globally.

At the same time, the adverse health implications of travelers have also become increasingly recognized. Burkholder et al. (2010) highlighted the physiological and psychological strains faced by international business travelers, including sleep disruption, stress, and exposure to differing health risks, underscoring the need for organizational and policy-level support for mobile workers. Furthermore, Alipour, Rezapouraghdam and Esmaeili (2020) proposed a personalist approach to understanding public health and tourism, advocating for community-centered strategies that link traveler well-being with host community resilience.

Growing attention has also been directed toward population-specific travel experiences, particularly among older adults and neurodiverse individuals. Wang (2011) examined the aging travel market, emphasizing accessibility requirements and the importance of inclusive design to enable safe, enjoyable, and health-supportive travel for older adults. Similarly, Jepson et al. (2024) problematized tourism’s engagement with neurodiversity, calling for a new research agenda that addresses sensory environments, cognitive accessibility, and the social inclusion of travelers and families with neurodiverse members. These studies collectively underscore that health and travel cannot be fully understood without attention to the diverse abilities, ages, and cognitive experiences of travelers.

Together, these perspectives reveal that the health and well-being of travelers cannot be disentangled from the physical environments, social systems, and sociodemographic characteristics that support travel. As global travel continues to expand, and as societies grapple with new health crises, aging populations, and shifting patterns of work and leisure, there is a pressing need for interdisciplinary collaboration to reimagine what it means to travel well and to care well.

Themed Issue Focus

This themed issue seeks interdisciplinary research that explores the complex relationships between travel, healthcare, aging and disability, and well-being. We invite contributions that integrate theory, empirical analysis, and practice from disciplines including tourism studies, healthcare, sociology, psychology, geography, anthropology, design, and policy studies. Possible topics include:

1. Well-being and Mental Health: How travel environments, cultural adaptation, and place attachment affect psychological well-being among travelers and host communities. Topics may include stress, resilience, loneliness, and the restorative or therapeutic potential of travel experiences.

2. Aging and Chronic Conditions: Topics may include healthcare access and care continuity while traveling, the role of travel in active aging, rehabilitation, and long-term disease management, and design and policy interventions for older or chronically ill travelers. 

3. Travel Accessibility and Inclusion: Topics may include inclusive design, equitable healthcare access for travelers with disabilities, and systemic barriers faced by marginalized groups. 

4. Neurodiversity and Cognitive Disability: Topics may include sensory-friendly environments, staff training in hospitality and healthcare settings, and co-designed approaches to improving the travel and care experiences of neurodiverse populations.

5. Travel Safety and Infectious Disease: Topics may include health risk management, disease prevention strategies, and collaborative public health systems that support safe and sustainable travel.

Timeline

Deadline: August 14, 2026

Publication of Themed Issue: 2027

Submitting Your Paper

When submitting your paper, please choose the Regular Issue – accepted papers will be compiled into the themed issue when published.