Taking Flight: How Low‐Altitude Tourism Shapes Flight Anxiety

ABSTRACT

This study examines how low‐altitude tourism experiences are associated with changes in flight anxiety through tourists' psychological and physiological responses. Drawing on emotion regulation theory and exposure‐oriented perspectives, two complementary studies were conducted. Study 1 used a randomized field experimental design to examine the relationships among low‐altitude flight experience, immersive engagement, cognitive reappraisal, perceived control, and flight anxiety. Results showed that low‐altitude tourism was associated with higher immersive engagement, which promoted cognitive reappraisal and was linked to lower flight anxiety. Study 2 explored whether these anxiety changes could also be observed in a subsequent commercial flight context. The findings extend low‐altitude tourism research by identifying an emotion‐regulation mechanism linking immersive engagement, cognitive reappraisal, and flight anxiety in real tourism settings. They suggest that low‐altitude tourism may be designed as a visitor‐centered aerial experience that helps some travelers become more familiar with flight‐related sensations and approach subsequent air travel with greater confidence.