The Path From Tourist Mindfulness to Storytelling: A Meaning‐Making Perspective

ABSTRACT Despite the significant meaning‐making role of mindfulness in the tourist experience and storytelling as a powerful value generator for tourism services, limited research has been devoted to investigating the impact of mindfulness on tourists' storytelling behavior. Based on the Mindfulness‐to‐Meaning Theory (MMT), this study empirically tests the relationships among mindfulness, place authenticity, tourist engagement, and storytelling. PLS‐SEM model results ( N = 460) showed a significant impact of mindfulness on storytelling, the mediating roles of place authenticity and tourist engagement, and the moderating role of gender. While mindfulness's direct impact on tourist engagement was not significant, the mediation results reinforced the MMT's postulation that tourists' mindfulness facilitates meaning through a causal process. The findings extend the theoretical understanding of mindfulness and contribute to DMOs's managerial decision to enact storytelling.