Does role-playing enhance tourists’ cultural identity with a destination? The case of traditional costume travel photography

Traditional costume travel photography (TCTP) reshapes how tourists perceive and engage with destinations through role-playing, thereby strengthening emotional bonds with places. However, it remains unclear whether deep engagement and self-reflection can foster lasting and profound destination-related emotions. This study uses a mixed methods design, combining qualitative analysis of online travel blogs with survey data from 733 respondents. Three core elements of TCTP are identified: costume, landscape, and interaction. Drawing on the transformative tourism experience framework, the study examines the chain-mediating roles of cultural immersion and self-extension. The findings indicate that costume has the strongest direct effect on destination cultural identity, while landscape and interaction are more important for deep immersion. Cultural immersion influences enduring cultural identity only through self-extension, and this process is shaped by tourists’ degree of cultural familiarity. Overall, this study advances theory on tourism performance and TLT-ETT, offering practical insights for immersive, narrative-driven destination design.