Guest editorial: Healthy aging and tourism as a way of promoting global public health: a call for cross-disciplinary research

Public health is broadly defined as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private communities and individuals” (Winslow, 1920). Its mission is to promote the health of entire populations (CDC Foundation, n.d.). While interdisciplinary attention toward the relationship between tourism and public health continues to grow (e.g. Johnston et al., 2011; Nunkoo et al., 2022), research remains limited in addressing one of the most pressing global transitions of our time: population aging. The world is aging rapidly due to falling fertility, rising life expectancy and shifts in lifestyle (Chen et al., 2022). In 2020, approximately 727 million people were aged 65 or above; this number will more than double to 1.5 billion by 2050, increasing the global proportion of older adults from 9.3% to 16.0% (United Nations, 2020; World Health Organization, 2022). This demographic transformation gives rise to multifaceted age-related health, social and inequality challenges that directly impact sustainable development.In this context, healthy aging—defined by the World Health Organization (2015) as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age”—has become a critical global public health priority (Sadana et al., 2016). The concept has generated scholarly interest across public health, gerontology, sociology, psychology and other disciplines (Yen et al., 2022). Its importance is underscored by its alignment with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (notably SDG 3, SDG 10 and SDG 16) and with national initiatives such as Australia's Scientific Research Priority on Health (Australian Government, 2015). Ensuring healthy aging requires coordinated and cross-disciplinary collaboration, given that older adults represent a vulnerable and expanding population group.Tourism, the world's largest industry, has increasingly been recognized for its contributions to health and well-being. It has even been proposed as a non-pharmacological intervention for chronic conditions such as dementia (Wen et al., 2022). Despite these developments, the role of tourism in supporting healthy aging remains insufficiently explored. Most studies focus on market segmentation and travel behavior of senior tourists (e.g. Fan et al., 2023; Li and Chan, 2021; Wen et al., 2020; Xiong et al., 2023), leaving significant conceptual and empirical gaps (Fan et al., 2024; Hu et al., 2023). Given the inherently multidisciplinary nature of healthy aging, more integrative research that bridges tourism with medical science, psychology, gerontology, sociology, law and marketing is necessary (Hu et al., 2023; Yen et al., 2022). Such cross-disciplinary collaboration can deepen understanding of how tourism supports healthy aging and contributes to public health.This special issue seeks to address this gap by encouraging rigorous, interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of tourism and healthy aging. It brings together a range of theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches and empirical insights that rethink the role of tourism not only as an economic or leisure activity but also as a contributor to well-being in later life. By assembling diverse viewpoints, this issue aims to inspire innovative research agendas and evidence-based practices, ultimately contributing to age-inclusive and health-promoting tourism environments in an aging world.This special issue features ten original contributions that collectively advance conceptual, methodological and empirical understanding of the tourism–healthy aging nexus. These works complement one another in scope, approach and theoretical insight, offering a holistic view of how tourism can support well-being among older adults.The empirical studies provide rich insights into the lived experiences, constraints and well-being outcomes associated with travel in later life. Chee's (2026) phenomenological investigation into thermal comfort in Malaysian senior-friendly accommodations highlights how airflow, temperature regulation and environmental design contribute to physical well-being in humid tropical climates, emphasizing the importance of senior-responsive built environments. Chen and Kuok (2026) adopt the successful aging model to explore how tourism fosters physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of healthy aging among older adults in Macau, showing how nature-based experiences, social interaction and transcendent moments enhance well-being. Using netnographic analysis, Goh et al. (2026) examine user-generated video blogs by senior solo travelers and identify eight major constraints—from safety concerns to physical limitations—as well as adaptive coping strategies such as technology use, social connectedness and resource maximization that support continued tourism participation. Adding a quantitative dimension, Sima et al. (2026) explore how artificial intelligence, particularly companion robots, supports emotional well-being in travel-based eldercare among older adults in China. Their experiments reveal that AI-enabled emotional support enhances life satisfaction and reduces reliance on medical services, highlighting the transformative potential of technology-enabled tourism for healthy aging.The conceptual, review and viewpoint papers extend this empirical work by offering broader theoretical, methodological and critical perspectives. Zheng et al. (2026) provide a comprehensive interdisciplinary review of healing tourism and develop a conceptual framework that identifies key mechanisms linking tourism to healthy aging, alongside future research directions. Similarly, Lee (2026) offers a bilingual literature synthesis and conceptual model demonstrating how tourism contributes to physical, mental and social well-being, with implications for inclusive policy development across health and tourism sectors. Jiang and Yu (2026) adopt a post-neoliberal lens to critique dominant assumptions in senior tourism research, calling for greater attention to human and non-human actors, technological transformations and socio-political contexts. Yang et al. (2026) revisit self-congruity theory in senior tourism, highlighting theoretical limitations and proposing methodological and contextual enhancements to strengthen its relevance to aging populations.Two methodological contributions offer valuable guidance for scholars working in this space. Hu and Wen (2025) review 184 studies on tourism and older adults, identifying methodological challenges—such as sampling biases, limited diversity and ethical complexities—and outlining recommendations for improving rigor, inclusivity and ethical integrity in future research. Building on this, Chang et al. (2026) provide a structural guide for applying life-course biographical methods to tourism and aging research, detailing strategies for interview design, data interpretation and trustworthiness. Their work illustrates the potential of life-course approaches to capture psychological well-being trajectories across different stages of the aging process.Collectively, these ten contributions enrich tourism scholarship by illuminating how tourism can support healthy aging through environmental design, psychological benefits, social connectedness, technology-enabled care and inclusive methodologies. They lay a comprehensive foundation for future interdisciplinary research and highlight the importance of advancing tourism as a contributor to global public health.We are encouraged by the strong academic engagement with this special issue and extend our gratitude to all authors for their high-quality scholarship. We also thank the editorial team of the Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics (APJML) for their sustained support. This collection aligns closely with APJML's mission by contributing cross-disciplinary insights into how tourism supports healthy aging and public health, particularly within the Asia-Pacific region. These contributions also resonate with broader policy agendas, including Australia's National Science and Research Priority on Health, China's “Healthy China 2030”, the WHO Healthy Aging Initiative and the United Nations’ SDGs.Looking ahead, several promising avenues for future research emerge. First, there remains a need for more large-scale, quantitative and mixed-method studies. Existing research frequently relies on small samples, qualitative designs and context-specific findings (Hu and Wen, 2025). Building robust, cross-national datasets that capture the diverse needs, motivations, health statuses and travel patterns of older adults—particularly in rapidly aging Asia-Pacific societies—will strengthen the generalizability and practical relevance of findings.Second, more research is required on older adults living with chronic conditions, who remain underrepresented in current tourism scholarship despite comprising a significant proportion of the aging population (Wen et al., 2025). Many such individuals continue to engage in travel and may derive substantial benefits from tourism, including physical activity, social stimulation and exposure to therapeutic environments (Hu et al., 2023; Li and Chan, 2021). Understanding the motivations, constraints, negotiation strategies and health outcomes of these vulnerable groups, including through virtual tourism, remains an important research priority.Third, incorporating medical research methods—including randomized controlled trials, cohort studies and multidimensional health indicators—would significantly strengthen causal inference and deepen understanding of tourism's long-term health impacts (Grimes and Schulz, 2002a, b). Physiological markers such as heart rate variability or blood glucose levels (Chia et al., 2018; Malik et al., 1996), combined with psychological and behavioral assessments, can provide a more holistic and valid understanding of tourism's influence on healthy aging.Fourth, digital technologies—including mobile tracking, wearables, emotion-recognition tools, virtual tourism and AI-driven wellness platforms—present powerful opportunities both for delivering age-friendly tourism services and for generating high-quality longitudinal data (Knani et al., 2022; Li et al., 2024). These technologies can enhance accessibility, personalize support and facilitate coordination across tourism, healthcare and marketing sectors (Tuo et al., 2025). Future studies should explore how these tools can optimize both research and practice.Finally, advancing the tourism–healthy aging research agenda will require deeper interdisciplinary collaboration among tourism scholars, marketers, healthcare researchers, gerontologists, psychologists and policy experts (Zheng et al., 2025). Such collaboration is essential for translating academic insights into practical strategies that enhance older adults' well-being and strengthen tourism's contribution to global public health.We hope this special issue stimulates continued dialogue, fosters interdisciplinary partnerships and inspires impactful research that positions tourism as a meaningful contributor to healthy aging in an increasingly aging world.