Nurturing nostalgia?: A response from rural tourism stakeholders

Abstract

The desire to relive bygone days stimulates nostalgia-seekers to travel to rural settings that have a kind of vintage charm. However, there is no evidence that stakeholders actually acknowledge the beneficial outcomes of nostalgia. This exploratory study sought to identify whether rural tourism stakeholders deliberately nurture visitor nostalgia with the intention of harvesting its positive outcomes. The findings suggest that the notion is credited as constructive, both at a personal and social level, but stakeholders do not seem to be fully cognizant of its potentiality. The study presents a diagrammatic tool that identifies those elements that need to be targeted so that nostalgia is triggered, strengthened and comforted.