EXPRESS: Serendipity: Embracing the Unexpected Turn in Tourism and Hospitality Research

This paper explores the under-theorized role of serendipity in qualitative tourism and hospitality research. Traditionally associated with tourists’ chance experiences, serendipity is reframed here as a methodological force in the research process itself. Drawing from interpretivist and grounded theory traditions, the paper proposes a recursive framework illustrating how researchers encounter, reflect on, and respond to unexpected insights in their fieldwork. Four case studies demonstrate how emergent themes, ranging from occupational stigma to reversed culture shock, reshaped original research questions and deepened theoretical contributions. These serendipitous turns highlight the value of intellectual flexibility and reflexivity in qualitative inquiry. The paper also outlines how serendipity can enhance trustworthiness and be transparently integrated into the methodology section of academic writing. In doing so, it invites an orientation toward a methodology of emergence; one that legitimizes improvisation, fosters researcher curiosity, and embraces the generative potential of the unexpected in hospitality and tourism studies.