Fostering eudaimonic wellbeing through creative tourism: the mediating role of authenticity and tourist engagement

Purpose The study explores the influence of creative tourism (CT) experience on tourist eudaimonic wellbeing (EWB). It reflects the fact that authenticity and tourist engagement (TE) are significant psychological mechanisms that link creative participation to EWB. Contrary to the existing literature that considers CT as a consumption experience, this research considers CT as a context that facilitates fundamental psychological needs and wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative research design was adopted for data collection from domestic and foreign tourists. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for assessing the relationships, complemented by Importance–Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) to obtain deeper managerial insights. Findings The findings reveal that CT has a positive influence on EWB. Additionally, both authenticity and TE partially mediate the link between CT and EWB, emphasising their essential contributions to the experiential process. Practical implications The findings provide useful information for tourism practitioners, policymakers and service providers to develop more engaging, authentic and immersive CT experiences that stimulate greater psychological wellbeing among tourists. Originality/value This is one of the few studies that explore the impact of CT on EWB. It demonstrates how creative activities foster EWB, extending tourism wellbeing from hedonic to meaningful and transformative experiences. In addition, authenticity and TE emerge as key mechanisms enabling internalisation of these experiences into EWB. The paper offers a process-based STD framework to explain these dynamics.