Jianing Zhang, Zesheng Yang
Special Forces-style Tourism (SFT), a form of intensive trip popular among young people in post-pandemic China, involves tightly scheduled, low-budget trips aimed at visiting many attractions in limited time. Grounded in the concept of authenticity, this study draws on semi-structured interviews with 18 participants aged 17–27 to examine how existential authenticity is constructed within practical constraints and digital space during SFT. Findings show that SFT enables personalized and meaningful experiences through self-directed itineraries, physically demanding activities, and emotional immersion, offering escape, self-expression, and psychological release. Social media inspires, mediates, and validates these experiences, turning travel into digital interaction and identity performance. By highlighting tourism shaped by emotional and social mediation, the study extends authenticity theory into youth travel, and offers practical insights for destination marketing targeting digitally connected young travelers.