Flamenco tourists’ accounts of eudemonic well-being

Music, among other cultural expressions, is an important element in the construction of tourism (Gibson & Connell, 2005), and tourists are increasingly engaging in music activities(Stebbins, 2011) in which participants can self-develop through their perceived authentic interactions with host communities (Prentice, 2001). However, despite the contemporary trends towards intangibility, subjectivity and co-creation of cultural tourist experiences, flamenco consumption has to date received little attention (Aoyama, 2007; Matteucci, 2013).This paper seeks to address this gap by exploring how tourists experience flamenco music and dance courses in Seville, Spain. Following a constructivist orientation to grounded theory(Charmaz, 2006), in-depth interviews, photo elicitation - in the form of researcher-found images - and participant observation were used to research flamenco tourism experiences. The research participants were 20 tourists from either French or English speaking countries and all engaged in flamenco courses in Seville for at least a week and up to a few months between September 2009 and May 2010.

This study reveals that a central theme of the flamenco tourists’ experiences is that of eudemonia, which is a positive state characterized by personal growth, and the furthering of one’s purposes in life (Waterman et al., 2008). A further exploration of flamenco experiences shows that four key dimensions characterize such experiences: authentic physical and social environments, challenge, intense emotions and the activation of the sentient body, and intrinsic motivation. First, the experience of authentic environments relates to both the experience of authentic heterogeneous spaces in Seville such as flamenco schools and clubs, and the enriching interactions with peers, flamenco artists and the local residents. Second, the experience of challenge has to do with the strain to learn flamenco and the stress of the tourists’ everyday lives, which lead most of the research participants to leave their usual domiciles. Third, through a variety of activities tourists got to feel their sensual and emotional selves more acutely. Finally, tourists clearly expressed their intrinsic motivation to engage in flamenco activities in Seville, which indicates that the flamenco experience is not a superficial quest for pleasure; instead, it corresponds to a purposeful, deeper search for developing one’s unique individual potentials. Thus, this study underscores the value of creativity-based eudemonic tourism activities (Richards, 2011) to ultimately enhance individuals’ well-being. Furthermore, our findings point to a need to focus on cultural tourism initiatives, which aim at empowering both tourists and local talents alike in ways that would provide opportunities for learning, self-discovery and self-fulfilment.