Abstracts for Session 27

The new decade of tourism experiences – Everything has changed or has it?

 

 

Title: Evolution of nature-based tourist experiences from 1970s to 2010s

Authors: Esko Sorakunnas

Affiliation: University of Eastern Finland 

 

Tourism is a prime example of the experience economy and experiential consumption. It is driven by the consumers’ quest for personal and memorable experiences that constitute consumer value. Hence, successful tourism practitioners need to know what their customers desire and in the best case, anticipate possible changes in their preferences.

Independent nature-based tourists’ experience composition and evolution was examined in an arctic national park in Finland. Wilderness huts’ guest book entries, voluntarily written by the visitors from 1970 to 2016, constituted multifaceted material that disclosed authentic visitor experiences. Purposively sampled 200 narratives underwent qualitative content analysis to disclose the main experiential themes during each decade as well as their longitudinal changes.

The main experiential themes were natural values, physical accomplishments, personal feelings of euphoria, freedom and self-renewal as well as social interaction. Although the examination was exploratory and qualitative, the frequencies of themes showed interesting stability over almost half a century; despite considerable societal, material and technological development since the 1970s and the rising popularity of outdoors recreation, national park visitors still seek similar experiences as their predecessors did. Hence, nature-based tourism practitioners need to safeguard these core values, but simultaneously, be prepared to develop innovative offerings for new customer segments. 

Further information: Sorakunnas, E. (2020). Dimensions and drivers of national park experiences: A longitudinal study of independent visitors. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 31 (2020) 100311 

 

 

Title: Exploring the practices of value creation in online experiences in sharing economy context

Authors: Petra Paloniemi and José-Carlos García-Rosell

Affiliation: University of Lapland, Lapland University of Applied Sciences

 

The so-called disruptive force of the sharing economy seems to be able to create value for the tourists, for businesses, for the locals and for the destinations. The key catalysts for the development of the sharing economy has been the development of internet and platforms, and also, the tourists are looking for authentic experiences. The sharing economy seems to offer an easy access to local life, experiences and people at the destinations. Originally the idea is based on the noble idea of sharing and saving resources and the sharing economy is still characterized by elasticity that continuously creates new kind of value, new markets, practices, and transforms the old structures. During the COVID-19 pandemic the online experiences in sharing economy platforms have become more popular.  A practice-based study was carried out on the practices of value creation in online experiences in sharing economy to learn more about the phenomenon. The data consists of interviews of the hosts, 38 written reflections of online experiences by guests and 8 group interviews with the guests. Although there is some research conducted on value creation in sharing economy, little attention has been given to value creation online. Considering this gap, we present the preliminary findings which shed light on the value and value creation practices emerging in online experiences in the sharing economy.  The findings of the study may help tourism actors to learn more about the value and practices in the sharing economy and thus, support the sustainable and innovative development of experiences. 

 

 

Title: Positioning strategy of the island of Faial in the tourism of the Azores Archipelago (Portugal)

Authors: Joaquim Antunes and Heitor Amaral

Affiliation: Polytechnic Institute of Viseu

 

Nature tourism is assumed to be a consolidated product in the Azores Tourist Region. Although, nautical tourism, is considered as a product with high potential, both in the Azores in general and, specifically, on the island of Faial, it is still considered a product under development. Looking at the nine islands of the Archipelago, a strong nautical vocation can be identified in the triangle islands (Faial, Pico and São Jorge) and, in the case of the first two, there is a strong connection to the whale watching industry and to a whole historical past linked to the hunting of the sperm whale. In this sense, the main objective of this work was to understand the importance of nautical tourism for tourists who visited the island of Faial, in the archipelago of the Azores. The methodology was based on interviews with the Maritime-Touristic Operators of the Island and the development of a survey of 160 tourists where the aim was to understand the importance of Nautical Tourism for the island. The results show that five factors related to nautical tourism on the island of Faial were identified, the most important being “the preservation and authenticity of the island”, followed by the factor “sports and adventure”. The satisfaction and loyalty index of tourists who visited the island was also analyzed, indicating very positive values. Finally, the limitations of the study and clues for future research are presented.

 

Keywords: Tourism; Nautical Tourism; Positioning; Faial Island; Azores.

 

 

Title: Meal experiences 20 years later with research – a literature review

Author: Kai Victor Hansen

Affiliation: University of Stavanger

 

In the early 2000s, research on the meal's aspects was started in Grythyttan, Sweden. They came up with 5 meal aspects that were important to restaurateurs. It was the product, the meeting, the room, the atmosphere and the management control systems. They were prepared based on Guide Michelin's inspectors.

The aim of this study was to investigate related articles concerning meal experience aspects to examine what new aspects have come to the last 20 years of research.

Database searches, conducted through Web of Science and Hospitality and Tourism, started with words in combination with “meal experiences aspects” and were narrowed down to the most relevant papers with words from. Ultimately, 148 of 33 downloaded papers from international journals were reviewed using the PRISMA statement map.

The preliminary findings expand the number of aspects around the meal experience that are important. This extension can be between 4 and 7 aspects. Here, a good number of analyses remain before the result can be presented in full scale. Some of the new aspects can give a more differentiated perception of the meal aspects.

Future research will, through focus group interviews with restaurant guests, reinforce both the old and new aspects.

 

 

Title: Nothing has changed – a general principle of interestingness in tourist experiences.

Authors: Svein Larsen, Katharina Wolff, and Torvald Øgaard

Affiliation: University of Bergen, University of Stavanger

 

Pandemics and other dramatic events may temporarily influence the objects of peoples’ cognitions and emotions, but the ways mental life functions, does not change easily. There are no indications that biases, risk judgements, (ir-)rationality, the structure of attitudes and their relation to behavior, intelligence, personality, perception, memories, or indeed any other mental activity have changed, or will change as a function the current pandemic. As the Nobel-prize winning author Sigrid Undset put it, “The hearts of people do not change in any way in all times” (“Men menneskenes hjerter forandres aldeles intet i alle dager”), implying that crises and dramatic events will not change peoples’ psychological make ups. This principle applies to the construction of tourist experiences too.

The construct of a tourist experience is unclear and understood in a variety of ways (Larsen, 2007; Larsen & Mossberg, 2007), but a clear understanding of this concept is crucial to the advancement of a sound theoretical basis for tourism studies. The present paper presents data from a series of studies exploring the very idea of the tourist experience sui generis (Larsen et al, 2019). While traditional tourist role theory (e.g. Cohen, 1972; 1979) implies that tourists’ experiences are determined by their personality (as either novelty or familiarity seekers), a more fruitful approach could be to view the processes behind the tourist experience independently from personality (Teigen, 1985; 1987a;1987b;1987c). The data shows that, independent of personality, the cognitive processes creating the tourist experience are the same for all tourists. Another lesson to be learned from this paper is that tourists themselves rarely are aware of what creates an interesting experience, although they do know whether the experience is interesting or not. 

 

 

Title: Finnish luxury tourism experience product - service providers’ perspective

Authors: Riina Iloranta

Affiliation: University of Eastern Finland

 

The concept of luxury and luxury consumption has evolved through the last decades, shifting it towards experiential luxury and inconspicuous consumption. Furthermore, it has been noted that perceived value with luxury may consist of more intrinsic value elements, which are driven by self-related aspects rather than status. Therefore, the consumer may search for different kinds of luxury experiences than a traditional five-star luxury hotel provides. Consequently, this change also relates to the actions of luxury service providers, which this study aimed to understand. The study was conducted in Finland with eleven narrative interviews. The findings illustrate Finnish luxury tourism experience product and service provider’s actions balancing with the own understanding of luxury, context, and consumer expectations. The service provider’s goal is to offer favorable prerequisites for experiencing a hedonic or eudaimonic well-being experience for the consumer. The findings present a luxury tourism experience product in an unconventional context and implications for the service providers, where sustainability is one of the prerequisites for facilitating a luxury tourism experience, rendering authenticity and meaningfulness in the experience. 


 

Title: Conceptualising nature-based science tourism: A case study of Seili Island, Finland

Authors: Juulia Räikkönen, Miia Grénman, Henna Rouhiainen, Antti Honkanen and Ilari E. Sääksjärvi

Affiliation: University of Turku

 

Nature-based tourism has been widely addressed, yet research on nature-based science tourism, founded on science, scientific knowledge, and/or engagement in scientific research, is still scarce. Drawing on tourist motivation, nature-based tourism, special interest tourism, and science tourism, a novel theoretical conceptualization of nature-based science tourism was developed. The framework identified three categories of science tourism with intensifying levels of tourist's scientific knowledge and tourist engagement: tourism based on scientific knowledge, tourism with scientific adventure or volunteering, and scientific research tourism. In the empirical part, the framework was applied to Seili Island, Finland, and tourist motivation to nature-based science tourism was examined through a survey (n = 518). According to results, tourists were interested in science and nature-based science tourism products, especially guided tours involving scientific interpretation but also in intensive scientific excursions. Learning was a dominant motivation, but enjoying nature and escape and relaxation were also significant. When moving from guided tours to more intensive scientific excursions, motivations diversified; besides learning, other tourist motivations also need to be addressed in developing nature-based science tourism experiences. The study contributes to nature-based tourism and underresearched science tourism literature and provides practical implications for developing nature-based tourism. 

 

 

Title: The co-creation of the tourism experiences through gamification: What is next?

Authors: Mara Franco, Ricardo Correia, Carmen Freitas

Affiliation: University of Madeira, CiTUR

 

The outbreak launched by the COVID-19 pandemic has fastened the digital revolution that is rapidly changing our world. Consumption patterns have changed, as consumers now focus on experiences, as in the tourism industry, searching for authentic and involving experiences guided by native people. These new experiences are powered by new digital technologies, that have introduced innovation in all industry sectors and that make the external environment more increasingly complex. The tourism sector is very involved in this digital transformation, as the consumer experience of digital tourists is always changing during the trip. New opportunities have emerged in the tourism sector and involving tourists in experiences using gamification techniques can enhance their satisfaction, brand loyalty and revisit intention. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to uncover the trends of using gamification in the co-creation of tourism experiences, by making a systematic literature review based on previous applications of gamification techniques in other services, their impact on the co-creation level of the service and their impact on the satisfaction, brand loyalty and revisit intention. Adopting a conceptual approach, it is expected to have a set of major trends in gamification in tourism, that will contribute to theory with new insights about the tourism experience and to practice, where managers can adopt new marketing strategies to create new experiences through gamification, to raise the level of engagement and participation of the tourists in the consumption experience, nurturing their relationship with the customer in a new uncertain outbreak reality.

 

Keywords: co-creation, tourism experience, gamification

 

 

Title: Workations - a re-defining, regenerative response to Covid-19: the convergence of work and leisure. 
Authors: Rose de Vrieze-McBean and Diane Nijs.
Affiliation: Breda University of Applied Sciences

 

The onset of the novel Corona virus pandemic has mandated the world to stop and take notice. In fact, not only does it need to critically observe the disease’s profound impact on the environment, but it also requires that we are mindful of our contribution to the natural functioning of a holistic society. Within this context, work and leisure play a vital role in maintaining the dynamic equilibrium of contemporary civilizations. Furthermore, a prolongation of present-day practices could ensure both a continuation of the current pandemic and further guarantee the emergence of other similar maladies. Concurrently, work and leisure are at the core of our society: one is impossible without the other. Hence, a solution must be found to safeguard sustainability, irrespective of malaises such as Covid-19. Workations: an innovative concept, founded on the convergence of work and vacations, is one solution to the problem. This concept has emerged from a network of complex societal and environmental issues which necessitate agile and creative solutions.

Grounded on a Complexity Theory methodology (the implementation of complex and chaotic systems to construct order and structure) it was demonstrated that Workations could be an efficient response to lessening the consequences of the current pandemic on the global society while designing ample means for maintaining the balance between work and leisure. Implementation of such a practice could also be a regenerative response to effectuating sustainability and alleviating societal devastation to our planet.

 

Keywords: Workations, Covid-19, Complexity Theory, sustainability.

 

 

 

Title: Memorable nature based tourism experience, place attachment and tourist environmentally responsible behaviour?

Authors: Erose Sthapit, Peter Björk, Dafnis N. Coudounaris, and Sameer Hosany

Affiliation:  Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences

 

As a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), there has been an increased focus on nature based tourism activities. This study tests a new model of memorable nature based tourism (MNBT) experience by examining the effect of novelty, experiencescape, experience co-creation, experience intensification and satisfaction on MNBT experience and the impact of such experience on place attachment. The study also examines the relationship between place attachment and tourist environmentally responsible behaviour (TERB). Using an online survey, data were gathered from tourists who have visited a national park within between January–March 2021. A valid sample of 206 tourists was used for data analysis. All the hypotheses are supported and the existing structures of factors explaining memorable tourism experience (MTE) in a national park context seem to be valid in a COVID-19 situation. This study’s contributions include the extension of the MTE construct and the inclusion of key variables in the formation of tourists’ MNBT, which further influences place attachment. The relationship between place attachment and TERB was also significant. The managerial implications include the need to offer new and diverse encounters for national park visitors during their visit. Guides and service staff at the national parks should be highly involved when visitors want to co-create their experiences by actively interacting with them. 

 

Keywords: memorable nature based tourism experience, place attachment, tourist environmentally responsible behaviour