This research examined transformative tourism through its essential elements and factors that enable or hinder transformation and produce lasting effects. This study employed qualitative exploratory methods to perform semi-structured interviews with 25 participants based at major Indian tourism destinations. The research showed that deep cultural engagement along with demanding activities and experiencing a powerful connection to location helped people transform but excessive commercialization combined with short-time constraints and shallow interactions prevented successful transformations. The research added value to transformative learning theory while delivering applicable recommendations to tourism professionals. Research limitations stem from using small samples and qualitative methods which require future studies to investigate transformative tourism experiences across digital platforms and cultural contexts.