Sexual health education for young tourists

There is a pressing need for developing effective sexual health education for a high-risk group of young tourists. The purpose of this study was to explore the necessity of sexual health education for young tourists and to identify the characteristics of potentially successful sexual health messages. The data were obtained from three mixed-gender focus groups and 13 individual interviews (N = 32) and analyzed using constructivist grounded theory. The findings highlight the necessity for innovative sexual health education methods supporting young adults' decision-making in tourism. Participants' recommendations for sexual health education for tourists included informing decisions about safer sex instead of condemning sex; developing tourism-focused, age-specific, and gender-sensitive messages; varying messages' emphases on risks vs. benefits; and individualizing the messages based on risk perceptions and motivations. These recommendations can be explained and applied using context-specific, harm reduction, and health promotion approaches as well as the methods of targeting, framing, and tailoring.