Young adults spend most of their leisure time in the company of their smartphones. Drawing on the theory of digital well-being and on the concept of psychological sustainability, our aim is to investigate the relationship between digitalization-dominated leisure-time consumption to identify the aggregated roles of smartphones. We suggest that smartphones play different roles in young adults’ daily life. To test our predictions, we used a qualitative method, a two-day time-use diary with structured interviews; two sample groups were recruited for data gathering. The results of the content analysis and of the qualitative sentiment analysis show that mobile devices have a marked agenda-setter function, along with the functions of ‘separator’ and ‘enabler’. The use of smartphones leads to idleness and perceived timelessness while staying physically immobile. Results expand our knowledge on the aggregated role of smartphones in young adults’ activities. Wider society can benefit from the research findings, stimulating young adults to acknowledge the aggregated roles and functions of their smartphones and to develop their digital well-being.

This paper analyses the impacts brought about by the economic crisis starting in 2007 on Hungarian shopping tourism. Considering the long-term symbiotic relationship of the national retail trade and international inbound tourism, the crisis, which has affected each segment of the national economy, has also influenced both the characteristics of tourist shopping and the structure and volume of retail trade, with an indirect impact on the country's GDP. The study investigates the purchases of day-trippers arriving from neighbouring countries and focuses on changes that occurred between 2006 and 2010. The survey is based on the assumption that the sending markets have become more price-sensitive as a consequence of the crisis, and the changes brought about will be diverse, depending on the economic and social processes of each sending country. Demand is influenced by crisis management strategies, by the price–value ratio of goods and services available in the market, and by the business practices of retail companies. Based on secondary analysis of the databases of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and the Hungarian National Bank, the paper provides an overview of how Hungarian shopping tourism was shaped by the above factors in the period of crisis.

This paper addresses the phenomenon of overtourism in Budapest from multiple perspectives, starting with an overview that uses information collected from news, media, and academic tourism literature. Further, the phenomenon of overtourism is addressed quantitatively using different indicators, including tourism density and intensity. According to these indicators, the center of Budapest (formed by districts I, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX) has been strongly affected by the presence of tourists, while districts physically far from the center have been less affected. This fact suggests the heterogeneity of the city in terms of overtourism. The number one catalyst of the negative impacts of foreign visitors’ behavior is party tourism (‘ruin pub’ tourism), which involves an unconventional use of the Hungarian capital. Finally, using an unconventional optimization method called fuzzy linear programming, we attempt to explore the challenging problem of identifying the optimal number of tourists for the city. The results of the study have important theoretical, methodological, and practical implications. On the theoretical side, we offer a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of overtourism in Budapest. Methodologically, the integrated approach in terms of data gathering and unconventional analytical methodologies (comprised of a case study analysis, the assessment of effective indicators for measuring the discussed phenomenon, and the demonstration of the sustainable number of visitors) represents a novel perspective about the extent of overtourism in Budapest. On the practical side, our findings provide valuable guidance for policymakers to help mitigate the problem of overtourism in the city. With regard to future research, we suggest extending and updating the results presented in this study to develop more sustainable tourism strategies.

Tour guides can transform tourist experiences. This is particularly evident in TV-series themed tours where tourists’ expectations are more likely to be met if a guide leads them into different dimensions of space and time. Here, we develop a model of the multidimensional realities of mediatized places by applying grounded theory, capturing how the transformative role of tour guides is key to the creation of memorable experiences. We illustrate how guides choreograph the shifts between multidimensional realities (past, present, fantasy world). Finally, we show that this switching between multidimensional realities has significant implications, specifically resulting in greater tourist involvement and in experiences that are remembered as having been beyond expectations. Our findings reveal the importance of detailed knowledge – of both the relevant fiction and local history – in crafting memorable experiences; highlights the skills required to build trust among participants, and discusses the devices used to cross the boundaries between multidimensional realities.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism had permeated all spaces of experience, reaching nearly every country, region, community, and corner of the globe. In recent decades, the meanings, implications, and roles of tourism have also expanded significantly. This article focuses on unconventional tourism mobilities, including same-day visits, which are an important but often neglected part of the tourism system, constantly challenging both scholars and tourism industry stakeholders. Unconventional tourism is an umbrella term that covers most kinds of unregistered or unaccounted tourist mobilities, some of which might not appear to be ‘tourism’ but should be in certain localities and under certain conditions. Given the growth of unregistered tourist flows and unaccounted leisure (or utilitarian) mobilities, there is a need in tourism studies to apply innovative research methods and to reconceptualize the meanings of tourism in different geographical and social contexts. It is expected that people’s desire to travel in the post-pandemic era will educe new spatial and temporal travel experiences and behaviours in which unconventional tourisms will play an important role. To better understand this phenomenon and to evaluate the development of new approaches to travel and behavioural spatialities, new ways of thinking, new theoretical constructs, and new methodologies are needed. This article seeks to explore certain hidden or invisible tourism mobilities, focusing on the geographical patterns, processes, and hidden aspects of unconventional tourism.

Educational travel provides opportunities for participants to explore specific issues in unconventional ways. In Hungary, primary and secondary schools organise annual study trips as part of their curricula. The aim of these trips is to familiarise students with the main sights of the country, and to bring to life national narratives discussed in lessons. Furthermore, these trips often play a key role in students’ socio-psychological development, both as future tourism consumers and as future citizens. Recognising the opportunity to influence students’ worldview and way of thinking during their sensitive teenage years, the Hungarian government has created a national programme to financially support school trips organised to visit minority Hungarian communities living in the neighbouring countries. This paper is based on the content analysis of 256 detailed reports submitted by participants of school trips organised in 2013/14 with the aim to visit Hungarian minority communities in the Carpathian Basin. The analysis focuses on the detailed descriptions of the participants’ personal memories of their experiences, the social construction of the visited destinations, and the influences of their memorable experiences on their sense of national identity. The research disclosed that the trips made to Hungarian territories outside the borders contributed to shaping the national sentiment of the students participating in the programme. The findings suggest that participation in tourism is an effective means to experience nationhood and national identity, by financially supporting school trips abroad, the state is able to exert political influence over national consciousness.