On-Site and Memorable Tourist Experiences: Trending Toward Value and Quality-of-Life Outcomes

Abstract

The tourist experience has matured in its body of literature, but researchers still debate the best way to measure and define the concept. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare memorable and on-site tourist experiences from theoretical, empirical, and methodological perspectives. A review of the literature is used to identify and describe the next evolutionary research step which is the quality-of-life (QOL) aspect of tourism experiences. It is argued that the evolving focus on QOL attributes is fueled by the theories and concepts of service-dominant logic. The paper argues that value (co)created on all sides of the equation (e.g., customer or company) must be considered when carrying out research. The paper also finds that different value outcomes for the individual customer occur in both on-site and memorable experience contexts. The findings contest an earlier theoretical argument, suggesting that memorable tourist experiences provide more value than on-site tourist experience.

Citation

Zatori, A. and Beardsley, M. (2017), "On-Site and Memorable Tourist Experiences: Trending Toward Value and Quality-of-Life Outcomes", Advances in Hospitality and Leisure (Advances in Hospitality and Leisure, Vol. 13), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 17-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-354220170000013003