1 FINAL DRAFT: Bertella, G. (2022). “Spirituality in practice” in sustainability tourism research. Journal of Qualitative Research in Tourism. doi: 10.4337/jqrt.2022.0003 ‘SPIRITUALITY IN PRACTICE’ IN SUSTAINABILITY TOURISM RESEARCH Abstract A more critical and engaging tourism sustainability research is needed, and this note argues that a valuable contribution can come from the scholars’ engagement with their spirituality. The main argument is that spirituality and sustainability are strictly interrelated, and such link should be an integral part of the methodology of studies about sustainability and tourism. Elaborating on the concept of reflexivity, this note coins the expression ‘spirituality in practice’, which is explained using an example based on the author’s experience. This note challenges tourism scholars to reflect on and make explicit how their position in terms of spirituality influences their choices regarding sustainability research. Keywords: methodology, reflexivity, sustainability, spirituality, tourism Introduction A shift towards sustainability in tourism is urgently needed, but solutions are difficult to find and implement (Jovicic, 2018; Sharpley, 2020). Some studies suggest that researchers engaging with sustainability and tourism should strive to be more critical and practical because limitations in critical and practical thinking can lead to a loss of enthusiasm for the sustainability concept (Budeanu et al., 2016; Boluk et al., 2019). The risk of apathy towards sustainability leads to a certain resignation that is irreconcilable with the significant efforts required to make radical changes for sustainability. These considerations highlight an opportunity to explore alternative ways of approaching sustainability in tourism research. This note proposes to approach sustainability in tourism research by integrating spirituality in the researchers’ reflexivity process (i.e. the process of reflecting on how the self influences the knowledge processes of doing research). Spirituality embraces a view of humans as individuals connected to all other beings in a relationship that transcends time, space and bodily senses (Nandram/Borden, 2010), and involves an inner tension in the search for values and meanings (Sheldrake, 2017). An increasing number of scholars are investigating the link between spirituality and sustainability (e.g. Carroll, 2012; Zsolnai, 2015; Dhiman/Marques, 2016). Still, the potential effects of such link on research practices has received scant attention, and only few studies within the sustainable science literature (e.g., Ives et al., 2020) comment on it. This note argues for the opportunity for tourism scholars investigating sustainability to engage with their own spirituality as part of their commitment to research quality in terms of reflexivity (Ateljevic et al., 2005; Xi et al., 2013). Although the researchers’ spiritual worldview can determine what kind of questions are asked, and what theories and methodologies are employed, spirituality has a marginalised position in academia, which tends to prefer the conventional Western understanding of knowledge production (Shahjahan, 2005). Ignoring or dismissing the role of spirituality in sustainability research practice is a missed opportunity for a more inclusive and potentially novel research that can resist the shortcomings of apathy and resignation. The link between spirituality and sustainability is explained in the next section. Then, the extent and the way spirituality is discussed in the tourism literature, in particular with