Toward trauma-informed customer experience design in tourism and hospitality

Trauma is a widespread and influential aspect of human experience, yet it remains largely overlooked in customer experience design within tourism and hospitality. This oversight risks not only failing to support wellness but also potentially retraumatizing individuals through poorly designed experience touchpoints and journeys. This research introduces a new design genre — Trauma-Informed Customer Experience Design (TICXD) — which adapts principles of trauma-informed care to the contexts of tourism and hospitality. This research lays the theoretical foundation for future trauma-informed customer experience design research. It also advocates for continued scholarly and practical attention to trauma as a critical factor in tourism and hospitality contexts.