Terminal illness and tourism: a review of current literature and directions for future research

This research note explores the contributions of scholarly research into terminal illness and tourism. Through a review of previous health tourism research, our search found very limited extant literature on tourism and life-threatening and terminal illness. Specific areas where research direction is needed include a reconceptualisation of health tourism to include notions of ill-health and its implications for the tourism industry; greater understanding of the lived experiences of travellers with life-threatening or terminal illness; and consideration of the notion of care and the needs of those providing palliative care during travel. The identification of these gaps in current knowledge provides an opportunity for further development of a research agenda for ill-health and tourism, which will have substantial implications both for academia and for the medical and tourism industries.