The COVID-19 pandemic, a multi-faceted crisis and a potentially traumatic event, is both a personally impactful event and a globally shared experience (e.g., Williamson et al., 2021). However, exposure to highly stressful events can also be a precursor to post-traumatic growth, the positive personal growth people experience when emerging from adversity (Tedeschi & Calhoun,
2004). In this perspective article, we aim to examine post-pandemic tourism behavior through the theoretical lens of posttraumatic growth. Casting COVID-19 as a catalyst for personal growth, we explore how post-pandemic travel and tourism activities manifest as the consequences of post-traumatic growth as well as the means for it. More importantly, we attempt to understand how posttraumatic growth and post-pandemic restructured assumptions about travel and tourism jointly influence the post-pandemic and post-traumatic tourism behavior.