New research shows that gay dating apps during travel can bring excitement and connection – but also emotional exhaustion, catfishing, and vulnerability.
Dating apps are changing not only how people connect while travelling, but also how they experience desire, loneliness, and emotional wellbeing, according to a new study published in Annals of Tourism Research.
The research, based on interviews with queer male travellers, introduces the idea of “cyber-sexual leisure” to describe the intense digital interactions that shape modern travel experiences – including browsing profiles, flirting, sexting, exchanging photos, fantasising, and seeking connection.
But the study found these experiences were often emotionally complicated. While apps can create excitement, they can also lead to emotional fatigue, risky situations, and feelings of emptiness.
Lead author Dr Oliver Qiu, from the University of East London, said: “People often assume these apps are only about casual sex. But what participants described was much more emotionally intense and psychologically complicated.
“Many people experienced cycles of anticipation, excitement, rejection, validation, disappointment, and emotional exhaustion – sometimes all within a single trip.”
Participants described using dating apps while travelling not only to arrange sex, but also to cope with boredom, insecurity, and the emotional intensity of being in unfamiliar places.
Some interviewees compared the experience to a “dopamine hit”, where browsing and receiving attention became addictive forms of emotional stimulation during travel.
At the same time, participants also described darker experiences.
One participant described meeting someone abroad who looked different from their profile photos before being pressured into a threatening situation involving money. Others described feeling emotionally pressured into sex after spending hours chatting online or travelling to meet someone.
Dr Qiu, from the Royal Docks School of Business and Law, said: “What makes these experiences powerful is that pleasure and vulnerability often happen together. The same apps that create excitement and connection can also produce emotional pressure, disappointment, and risk.
“Travel can intensify all of this because people are outside their normal routines, more anonymous, emotionally exposed, and often searching for connection in unfamiliar environments.”
The study argues that digital intimacy has become a major part of how many people now experience travel. Rather than simply using apps to arrange physical encounters, participants described apps becoming woven into the emotional atmosphere of travelling.
The researchers say the findings have wider relevance beyond tourism, particularly as dating apps and digital intimacy continue to shape emotional life, relationships, and wellbeing more broadly.
