Nostalgia and tourism

Abstract

For most of the past 300 years, the concept of nostalgia has been regarded as a medical condition. However, since the 1980s, it has become heavily associated with the ‘heritage industry’ and the creation of consumer experiences, especially in a tourism and leisure context. This special issue on nostalgia and tourism aims to encourage and advance the scholarly conversation about the relationship between nostalgia and contemporary heritage tourism. The collection of articles in this special issue provides theoretical, conceptual and empirical research on nostalgia and heritage tourism in different contexts. Hence, this editorial addresses the historical development of the term ‘nostalgia’ and examines the key themes in research on nostalgia and heritage tourism.