Tourists and ‘philosophers’: Nature as a medium to consciousness and transcendence in spiritual tourism

Nature is a vital context for transcendent experiences fostering the spiritual dimensions of humankind. Analysing data from protected areas in China, this paper investigates ways which spirituality permeates nature-based tourism. A thematic analysis was undertaken to interpret 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with professionals and tourists. Findings enable construction hierarchical framework tourism achievement highlight need create links between areas, tourists, ‘mediums’. acknowledged as means overcoming emptiness secular nation where religions function limited way traditional wisdom undervalued. This study proposes nature-based, philosophy-oriented development model, sheds light on theoretical industrial domains alike.