Applying augmented reality (AR) technologies in theatrical performances in theme parks: A transcendent experience perspective

This study aims to investigate the attributes of AR theatrical performance in theme parks that impact a visitor's emotional experience and how it would do so. Data were obtained from tourists who had experienced AR theatrical performances at the Fantawild theme park in China. Drawing on a transcendent experience perspective, this study proposed and tested a theoretical model depicting the relationship between the perceived experiential quality of AR theatrical performance with five major dimensions—visual appeal, heightened enjoyment, education and curiosity, escapism, and focused immersion—as well as visitors' emotional responses (i.e., nostalgia, and emotional arousal) and feelings of belonging to the theme park, which were statistically analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results showed that AR experiential quality exerted positive effects on visitors' nostalgia and emotional arousal, all of which triggered a feeling of belonging to the theme park.     

Effect of Event Service Quality and Satisfaction on Happiness Among Runners of a Recurring Sport Event

The consumption of sport events through direct participation can influence participants’ perception of happiness with that experiential purchase given the time and resources invested in that experience. The purpose of the study was to examine how sport event service quality aspects operationalized through the physical environment, interaction, and outcome factors influence overall satisfaction with the event and experiential happiness. Data were collected from 300 runners who participated in 5k and 10k races. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed the positive effect of outcome and physical environment factors on satisfaction with the event and the positive influence of event satisfaction and outcome quality on experiential happiness. The overall expectations on the quality of the event experience can be a focus for event managers aiming to achieve social marketing goals related to positive psychology from the event participation.     

The Moderating Role of Water Park Service Quality,Environment, Image,and Food Quality on Perceived Value and Customer Loyalty: A South Korean Case Study

This study empirically examined not only the relationship between perceived value and customer loyalty, but also the moderating role of service quality, environment, image, and food quality at a water park, a segment of the tourism industry. In particular, the current study, using hierarchical regression analyses, examined the direct effects of perceived value on customer loyalties—loyalty and behavioral loyalty—as well as the moderating effect of four elements. As anticipated, this study showed that perceived value has significant and positive effect on both types of loyalty. In addition, the result of the interaction effects showed that service quality and food quality acted as moderators on the relationship between perceived value and attitudinal loyalty; however, water park image acted as a moderator on the relationship between perceived value and behavioral loyalty only. Finally, these results indicated that three elements—service quality, water park image, and food quality—have significant interaction on the relationship between perceived value and attitudinal/behavioral loyalty. These findings may provide water park operators with useful and detailed guidelines for satisfying customer loyalty levels, both attitudinally and behaviorally. More detailed findings and implications are also discussed.     

现象世界的旅游体验:旅游世界与生活世界

本文从基础理论研究的角度探讨了旅游现象研究的几个基本范畴.作者认为,旅游现象是一种纷繁复杂的社会经济现象,而构成这种复杂现象的内核的元素就是旅游体验.这种旅游体验过程是一个有一定自组织能力的连续系统.它由一个个富有特色和专门意义的情境串联组合而成,这些情境则共同构成了一个有别于人们日常生活世界的另类行为环境:旅游世界.通过对旅游世界结构性要素的分析和描述,本文构建了一个理解旅游现象的新的视角,而这种视角的哲学渊源来自现象学方法.     

Self-congruity and flow as antecedents of attitude and loyalty towards a theme park brand

Brand loyalty is believed to be a sustainable advantage for theme parks. Since theme parks represent a man-made environment purposefully built for specialized market segments, studying factors that lead to brand loyalty for theme park products is of strategic importance. These factors have yet to be identified in the current literature, however. Recognizing the potential influence of self-congruity and flow in the theme park consumption experience, and thus its influence on loyalty, the current study investigated the effect of these constructs on visitor attitude and loyalty towards a theme park brand. The results revealed that both self-congruity and flow are the antecedents of visitor attitude and brand loyalty. The theoretical contributions of this study, as well as managerial implications concerning image projection, branding strategy, and park experience design, are discussed.     

Identifying antecedents and consequences of well-being: The case of cruise passengers

Although recent studies have focused on the role of well-being in tourism, there is limited knowledge about its specific contribution for marketing practitioners. This study focuses on how cruise companies can develop a solid relationship with their passengers by examining four dimensions of experiential value and their impact on well-being and passengers' value co-creation behavior. Experiential value consists of four dimensions: playfulness, aesthetics, consumer return on investment, and service excellence. A structural equation model delineating relationships among experiential value, well-being, and value co-creation was developed and tested with 292 luxury cruise passengers. Well-being was found to play a significant role in linking the theoretical concepts of experiential value and value co-creation, with brand prestige playing a moderating role.     

Assessing the experiential value of heritage assets: A case study of a Chinese heritage precinct,Bendigo, Australia

Destination managers often wish to utilise heritage assets to create memorable visitor experiences, yet there is a paucity of research aimed at understanding how these experiences might be perceived and valued for tourism purposes. This article uses a cultural tourism potential audit tool to evaluate the experiential value of a collection of Chinese heritage assets in the regional city of Bendigo, Australia. The tool was expanded to include analysis of the type of experience, categorising them as either peak or supporting. Findings suggest that some of the heritage assets had high or moderate experiential value, with a few forming the basis of peak tourist experiences. Other heritage assets, whilst high in experiential value, are best conceptualised as supporting experiences. Through the aegis of a heritage precinct, both types of experience may collectively attract tourists, provided they are integrated with a meaningful and appealing narrative.     

Instagramming nature-based tourism experiences: a netnographic study of online photography and value creation

The purpose of this research is to explore the role of online photography in creating experience value in nature-based tourism, and what types of experience value are conveyed through photography-based user-generated content. The paper draws from existing literature in defining tourism experience value as a subjective, inter-subjective and inter-contextual construct, performed by situated valuation practices. Consequently, the paper presents interpretive and participatory netnography as an effective method to investigate experience value, and identifies online photography on Instagram as both a valuing practice and a valuing place. Results show the capability of online photography-based UGC to create multidimensional values from strategic combinations of textual and visual content. Simultaneously, new dimensions of experience value are introduced, which exist beyond single tourism experiential encounters, but critically contribute to an iterative experience valuation. Finally, Instagram posts introduce valuation timelines that can elude linear models of pre/in-situ/post-experience valuation, and assume subjective and fluid connotations.     

Managing experience co-creation practices: Direct and indirect inducement in pop-up food tourism events

Consumers performing the role of value-creators in experience co-creation introduces idiosyncrasies that challenge experiential consistency. Taking ‘pop-up’ dining events as its empirical focus, and drawing on semi-structured interviews with participants, this study examines how organisations and consumers interact to negotiate ambiguity, variability and consistency. The paper questions how organisers try to prescribe normative rules governing events. It considers how consumers invest in preparing for events, and engage in socialised performances to create unique experiences. The data are also used to show how peer surveillance shapes consumer expectations, behaviours and interpretations. Consequently, this study contributes to knowledge on the practical management of co-creation by conceptualising different pathways through which organisations and consumers attempt to orchestrate behaviours. Moreover, in theorising from the data, this paper distinguishes between direct and indirect modes of inducement used to achieve experiential outcomes, identifying how ‘value-signalling’ practices engage event stakeholders and shape their co-creation.     

Effect of experiential value on customer satisfaction with service encounters in luxury-hotel restaurants

Exactly how the restaurant industry creates good quality service experiences has attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners. Some scholars advocate creating high quality service encounters to enhance customer satisfaction. However, recent research has not examined hotel restaurant service, and a detailed understanding of its potential effects on the customer meal experience and customer satisfaction is needed. Consequently, this study of service encounters and restaurant consumer behavior constructed a comprehensive framework via a literature review. Empirical data were collected by a questionnaire distributed to luxury-hotel restaurant customers. The empirical results indicated that restaurant environmental factors and interactions with service employees and other consumers positively influence the consumer experiential value. Additionally, only interactive relationships with service employees directly and positively affect consumer satisfaction. Restaurant environment factors and interactions with other consumers indirectly and positively influence consumer satisfaction through experiential value. Finally, with respect to marketing and development initiatives, the results of this study can help improve the physical attractiveness of the examined luxury-hotel restaurants.     

Capsule hotels: Offering Experiential Value or perceived as risky by tourists? An optimum stimulation level model

Capsule hotels are a novel Japanese approach to accommodation that arose in 1979. For most travelers outside Japan, however, the concept of capsule hotels is relatively new. They provide experiential value to the traveler; they also pose some risks. Travelers seeking familiarity view unfamiliar environments as riskier, and perceived risk has a negative influence on consumer behavior. This study aims to establish a behavioral model of capsule hotel visitors by incorporating optimum stimulation level (OSL), perceived risk, and experiential value into its analytical framework. A total of 276 respondents who stayed in a capsule hotel participated in the study. Findings suggest that the OSL has a positive effect on experiential value and perceived risk. Experiential value, in return, negatively affects perceived risk. Experiential value further plays a mediating role between perceived risk and OSL. We discuss theoretical implications and offer recommendations for capsule hotel operators.     

Bringing the past to life: Co-creating tourism experiences in historic house tourist attractions

This ethnographic study concentrates on the co-creation of experiential value between the tourist and tour guide in a single historic tourism site; Huntingdon Castle, Ireland. Built upon the principles of service dominant logic, the research explores how storytelling acts as an engagement platform and value enhancing strategic resource. In doing so, it impels the value co-creation journey and shapes the tourist's experience. Observation is coupled with qualitative interviews to capture the dual perspective of both guides and tourists. Findings exhibit the co-creation process through the performance of stories; how and when people derive pleasure (value); the influencing aspects of the environment or place; and guide/tourist perspectives on how they feel and think during the experience. The research contributes by taking a practical operational view of how co-creation occurs. It goes beyond the guide's perspective and exhibits the importance of co-creation of lived experience in the story enhanced tourism experience framework.     

Beyond Better Wine: The Impact of Experiential and Monetary Value on Wine Tourists’ Loyalty Intentions

Research on the experiential aspects of wine tourism has been advocated but the evolution of this approach in this field is still in its infancy. This exploratory study proposes a behavioral model to simultaneously examine the role of hedonic and utilitarian shopping value as well as monetary value perceptions in predicting cellar door visitors’ overall satisfaction and loyalty intentions. The application of partial least squares path modeling indicates that cellar door visitors are oriented toward the experiential aspects of the visit itself as much as to pragmatic considerations in purchasing wine. The insights are, therefore, directed toward the creation of a total cellar door experience. These findings contribute to the understanding of a cellar door visitors’ decision-making process, providing managers and researchers with insights into how to effectively accommodate cellar door visitors’ needs.     

An examination of preferences and evaluations of visitors based on environmental attitudes: Biscayne Bay national park

This study links visitor preferences to environmental attitudes in an effort to assist national park managers reconcile the public demand for both protection of the natural environment and its utilisation. Support was found for the hypothesis that visitors with ecocentric views will prefer that national park resources be allocated to protect and preserve the environment while those with anthropocentric inclinations will favour transforming the environment. The results suggest that park resource managers may need to consider alternative management practices for the two groups as well as monitor changes in environmental attitudes that will impact preferences for park management practices.     

On bringing people and park together through ecotourism: The Nanda Devi National Park,India

While the need for linking park with people was heavily stressed both at the World Conservation Strategy (1980) and the World Congress of National Parks (1982), the conflict has remained unresolved, particularly in the developing nations. The hackneyed question, who is more important – monkey or man - is still argued. Admittedly, human beings are as much a part of nature as any other animal or plant species. Indeed, it is neither desirable nor feasible to alienate poor people, living in and around parks and protected areas. Modern methods of judicious park management now point more to Integrated Conservation Development Projects (ICDP) than resorting to a traditional “fences and fines” approach. ICDP ensures the conservation of biological diversity by reconciling the management of park with social and economic needs of the local people, who have limited access to resources and few alternative means of livelihood. Paradoxically, these people bear substantial costs – as a result of lost access – while receiving little in return. Nanda Devi National Park in Uttaranchal (India) presents an unsavory example of people and park relationship. It is India's highest park after Kangchendzongha (Sikkim). Characterized by high altitude ecology, the park (625?sq.?km) is profoundly rich in biodiversity, mountain-lores and mythologies. Indigenous communities, particularly Bhotias, have enriched the landscape by their bizarre ways of life. After Tilman and Shipston's successful ascent (1936) of Nanda Devi peak (7817?m), an era of mountaineering and trekking ensued which resulted in degradation of fragile Himalayan environment. Poaching of musk deer and herb smuggling also raised alarm. Considering the dire conservation needs for preserving genetic resources and diversity of species, the area was notified as a National Park in 1982. Subsequently, the park was closed for ecological quarantine. Later it was declared a Biosphere Reserve (1988) and inscribed asa World Heritage Site in 1992. Customary to Third World practices, the park emphasized a policing role excluding local people, displacing them arbitrarily with meager or little compensation for their losses of livelihood. Ban on tourism activities further added to their problem of life and living. The paper discusses the cleavage of park and people and argues that development of sound ecotourism can resolve this conflict and bring park and people together.     

Application of carrying capacity management in Vietnamese national parks

Implementing carrying capacity is a prerequisite for national parks (NPs) striving to meet the three mandates of park management, namely, recreational use, conservation, and economic value. This study attempts to investigate the application of carrying capacity management in Vietnam’s park system and to assess its application for further development of the concept. Findings show that there are three different approaches to the implementation of carrying capacity in Vietnamese parks, including (1) a laissez-faire approach, (2) a relaxed approach, and (3) a strict approach. It is suggested that economic consideration is one of the major constraints to the implementation in developing countries such as Vietnam. This study not only contributes to the literature on capacity management in NPs, especially in the context of developing countries, but its findings are also valuable for park authorities to achieve the triple mandates of park management.     

The role of public space in constructing experience capital: A longitudinal analysis in the hotel context

Public space plays a primary role in shaping customers' hospitality experiences. Yet how public space conditions customers' experiential outcomes in accumulating capital for hospitality organizations remains underexplored. Inspired by the theory of psychological ownership, this research presents an in-depth analysis of the impacts of customers' public space experiences on their experiential outcomes using a longitudinal hotel industry dataset merging information from customer surveys, property performance, and surrounding accessibility insights. Findings revealed the positive effects of customers’ public space experiences on their overall service experiences, the perceived value of the experience, revisit intentions, and recommendation intentions. Moreover, hotel class, other customers, and surrounding accessibility were empirically verified as moderators conditioning the positive impact of public space. These findings offer valuable implications for theory and practice that are worthy of further exploration.     

Examining the impact of experiential value on emotions,self-connective attachment,and brand loyalty in Korean family restaurants

ABSTRACT

This study examines how experiential value as perceived by customers of Korean family restaurants influences consumption emotions, self-connective attachment to the restaurant brand, and, ultimately, brand loyalty. Having conducted a comprehensive literature review, the study proposes and estimates a model that specifies the interrelationships among four dimensions of experiential value (i.e., atmosphere, escapism, customer return on investment, and service excellence), and latent variables of positive and negative emotions, self-connective attachment, and brand loyalty. Analysis with structural equation modeling was conducted with data collected from customers of family restaurants in South Korea. The results show that dimensions of experiential value influence either positive or negative emotions. The emotion variables, together with self-connective attachment, also mediate the relationships between perceived value of dining experience and brand loyalty.     

Fostering corporate sustainability in tourism management through social values within collective value co-creation processes

Collective value co-creation is not fully explored in management research. The phenomenon of social value co-creation has not been investigated in detail either, particularly regarding sustainable tourism management. In our work, we investigate the role of social values within the collective value co-creation process, as a key factor for building sustainable tourism management practices able to generate sustainable benefits to all stakeholders. The study setting is Sardex, a complementary currency community based in Sardinia (Italy). By adopting a qualitative methodology, and through face-to-face interviews, the entrepreneurs’ relationships were analysed using dialogue, trust, and reciprocity as core factors of value co-creation within the hospitality and tourism firms grouped in Sardex. Particularly, we explored whether, and to what extent, reciprocity was the salient factor in the process of value co-creation. Findings show that social values, and especially reciprocity, are the backbone of value co-creation: they foster corporate social orientation, which brings together corporate social responsibility and sustainability, and represent our contribution to enrichen theoretical and practical perspectives in this multidimensional field.     

Mesa Verde Centennial Celebration

Abstract

Mesa Verde is the historical familial home of the Ancestral Pueblo People. It is a heritage center and leading archeological park that offers visitors an educational experience in a well-kept preserve. The park offers many ancient archeological sites such as the elaborate stone cliff dwelling structures, artifacts, and ceremonial kivas dug deep into the earth. Due to devastating fires over several annual seasons, attendance at Mesa Verde National Park has been disappointing. Capitalizing upon the centennial celebration in 2006, the park's 100th birthday, park officials hope to increase patronage. Historically the park has been partly responsible for bringing several hundred thousand visitors and much of the tourism dollars that flow into the remote southwestern Colorado and four-corners region each year. It is not only responsible for a direct economic impact but also an indirect economic impact found with other area tourist attractions such as hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Thus, lower park attendance figures have a significant impact on the surrounding four-corners region. Tracy Chavis, Executive Director of the Mesa Verde Museum Association, knew all about the disappointing park attendance and problems the park had faced over the past few years and knew she had to do something about it-and she knew she had to do something soon.