Exploring the essence of memorable tourism experiences

Memorable tourism experience at smart tourism destinations: Do travelers' residential tourism clusters matter?

Hot-air ballooning is considered an activity conducted in rural areas that involves adventure and participants' interactions with the natural environment. A hot-air balloon ride is regarded as a memorable tourism experience. Memorable tourism experiences are argued to be the best predictors of future behaviours. If tourists have a positive perception of the destination country and the destination itself, they are more likely to feel that they will have a memorable tourism experience, which in turn leads to higher revisit and recommendation intentions. Empirical research investigating the antecedents and consequences of memorable tourism experiences remains insufficient. This study, leveraging the Theory of Planned Behaviour and focusing on hot-air ballooning, aims to fill this gap by proposing and testing a model that explores the relationships between country image, destination image, memorable tourism experience, revisit intention, and recommendation intention. The relationships were examined using PLS-SEM. Data were collected from foreign tourists participating in hot-air balloon tours in Cappadocia, Türkiye, one of the leading destinations for hot-air ballooning in the world (N=764). According to the regression analysis results, country image has a strong positive effect on destination image (β = 0.86, t = 71.976, p < 0.01). Additionally, the country image positively influences memorable tourism experience (β = 0.34, t = 7.018, p < 0.01). Destination image also has a positive impact on memorable tourism experience (β = 0.60, t = 12.951, p < 0.01). Furthermore, destination image mediates the effect of country image on memorable tourism experience (β = 0.52, t = 12.684, p < 0.01). Finally, a memorable tourism experience has a strong positive effect on future behavioural intentions (β = 0.89, t = 66.672, p < 0.01). It is emphasized that in destinations recognized for hot-air ballooning, such as Cappadocia, creating a positive country and destination image can enhance the likelihood of tourists revisiting and recommending the destination to others. In this context, when developing marketing strategies, the impact of the country’s image on destination image should be considered, and the focus should be on providing tourists with memorable experiences. Since convenience sampling method was used in the data collection process in this study, it is an exploratory study, and the generalizability of the results is limited.

The purpose of this study is to dig deeper into the role of memorable tourism experiences in revisiting intention and recommendation intention by placing tourism satisfaction as mediation. This research involved a number of 340 tourists visiting heritage destinations in Central Java. Respondents were taken using a convenience sampling technique. The collected data was analyzed by SEM-AMOS. The results of the study show that memorable tourism experiences are proven to have a positive and significant effect on tourist satisfaction. This means that the more memorable the experience the visitor gets, the greater the satisfaction increasing the intention to return and recommendation intention. Memorable experiences also significantly affected the intention to return and recommendation intention. Memorable experience and satisfaction are very important factors for tourists to determine their choice to visit heritage tourism destinations. Therefore, tourism managers must pay attention to cultural heritage sites so that tourists have a positive and unforgettable impression in their memories. Keywords: Heritage Destination, Revisit Intention, Recommendation, Satisfaction, Memorable Tourism Experiences

Dark tourism is an important part of tourism at some destinations; however, little is known about the factors that influence the overall dark tourism experience. This research aims to contribute to this existing knowledge gap by improving our understanding of the nature of the dark tourism experience and its formation process. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 tourists in the war zones of Iran, participants were asked to talk about their memorable experiences and why the experience was special to them. Using a grounded theory approach, a theoretical model of memorable dark tourism experiences (MDTEs) was developed and four key factors influencing dark tourism experiences at a destination were identified: learning from dark experiences, spiritual experiences, involvement in activities and emotional experiences. The findings of this study contribute to ongoing efforts in tourism studies to understand the nature of memorable tourism experiences in general and in the context of dark tourism experiences in particular. The theoretical and practical importance of the research results is discussed and various approaches are proposed for future research.

A memorable tourism experience corresponds to the memories retained in the tourist’s memory based on the individual experiences perceived during all the phases of a trip to a particular destination. Theme parks are tourist attractions designed with a thematic identity that allows visitors to escape from routine and are based on offering a different world with alternative experiences that can become unforgettable. In this context, this study aimed to analyze the influence of memorable tourism experiences from the Beto Carrero World theme park perspective in Penha-SC, Brazil. This research was conducted using data collected from 680 tourist visitors to the park, using a questionnaire comprising 27 variables that are part of the memorable tourism experience constructs: hedonism, novelty, renewal, meaning, involvement, knowledge, and social interaction. The data was analyzed based on sociodemographic characteristics and multivariate analysis using SPSS and SmartPLS software. The results made it possible to identify a new proposal for a conceptual model to evaluate the meaning of memorable experiences in theme parks and positively confirmed the influence between the memorable tourism experience and each firstorder construct, revealing that immersive hedonism and perceived meaning had the most significant impact on the memorable tourism experience in the theme park.

Memorable Tourism Experience is one of the sources that are an aspect of excellence for a tourist destination or tourist attraction because a memorable experience will have a long- term impact. Good storytelling behavior and getting satisfaction that is in accordance with expectations will have an impact on tourist behavior to do branding and the intention to revisit. This study was conducted to see how much influence an impressive tourism experience has on storytelling behavior and revisit intention in Jatiluwih Tourism Village. The phenomenon that drives this study is the large number of storytelling behaviors of tourists who upload and convey information about their experiences through social media. The gap in previous studies is used as a novelty in this study to test how much influence memorable tourism experience has on revisit intention through storytelling behavior in Jatiluwih Tourism Village. The sampling technique used purposive sampling with a questionnaire distribution of 210 respondents consisting of domestic and foreign tourists. The type of research uses a quantitative approach using a Likert scale and data analysis using SmartPLS. The results of this study indicate that there is a significant direct influence between the memorable tourism experience variable on revisit intention, there is a significant direct influence between memorable tourism experience on storytelling behavior, there is a significant direct influence on storytelling behavior on revisit intention and storytelling behavior has a significant direct influence. In fully mediating an impressive tourism experience on the intention to revisit in Jatiluwih Tourism Village.

Recently, an increasing number of tourism destinations have resorted to shaping immersive experiencescapes as a strategy to attract and retain tourists. Despite evidence that immersion can enhance experiences, there is insufficient analysis on whether and how tourists’ embodied interactions with diverse immersive experiencescapes generate differentiated memorable tourism experiences. Grounded in embodied cognition theory, this study examines the impact of diverse immersive experiencescapes on tourists’ memorable tourism experiences through a mixed-method design integrating the Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic model with grounded theory. The findings indicate that tourists’ memorable tourism experiences exhibit significant heterogeneity across experiencescapes. These variations stem from distinct interactive elements within each experiencescape, especially the experience core and the experience carrier. Furthermore, this study proposes a progressive model of embodied immersion, illustrating how experiencescapes shape tourists’ memorable experiences. This research advances the theoretical understanding of immersive experiencescapes and embodied cognition while providing insights for optimizing destination experiencescapes.

This study presents the findings of an explanatory research which examines the effect of Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE) on Behavioral Intention of marine tourism travelers in West Sumatera, Indonesia. 115 qualified questionnaires were used for the analysis. The findings of this study reveals that only four factors of Memorable Tourism Experience – local culture, refreshment, meaningfullness and novelty – that affected traveller’s behavioral intentions to revisit the same destination, repractice the same tourist activities, and generate positive word-of-mouth. The research findings contribute to a better understanding of Memorable Tourism Experience factors that enhance positive behavioral intentions. The theoretical and managerial implication of the study results are discussed in detail.Keywords—tourism experience, memorable experience, memorable tourism experience, behavioral intentions

ABSTRACTThere has been insufficient research on how the emotional‐ and intelligence‐related shortcomings of service robots may be compensated for to enhance the tourist experience. In this study, we explore the influence of service robots' communication style on tourists' memorable tourism experiences through three situational experiments involving different backgrounds and groups of subjects. The findings indicate that when service robots use social‐oriented (vs. task‐oriented) communication emphasizing emotional intelligence, tourists have more memorable experiences. Perceived warmth and intelligence mediate the relationship between communication style and memorable tourism experiences. At the same time, a higher level of anthropomorphism in the appearance of service robots, along with tourists' familiarity with technology, enhances the positive effects of socially oriented communication. These conclusions contribute to the literature on human–robot interaction in tourism and provide guidance for using service robots in scenic destinations.

Underpinned by Script Theory and the S-O-R model, this research enhances the green tourism consumption literature to identify how destination service quality contributes to visitors’ memorable experiences and loyalty towards a place-based food tourism attraction. A total of 202 tourists who visited the Best of Highlands tea plantation in Malaysia were surveyed using an online questionnaire. Using PLS-SEM, this study has several notable findings: (i) destination service quality factors: activities, cleanliness, language, and security emerged as predictors of memorable tourism experiences; (ii) memorable tourism experiences strongly predicted destination loyalty; and (iii) memorable tourism experiences mediate the path between destination service quality and destination loyalty. This study therefore provides new insights into both sustainable tea tourism and script theory with respect to how memories guide future decision making. These results also provide insights for tea tourism providers in designing an unforgettable destination that stimulates the tourist’s intention to revisit the destination and to communicate it to others.

Exploring the relationship between emotions and memorable tourism experiences through narratives

PurposeUtilising the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theoretical framework, this study investigated how destination attachment and overall satisfaction mediate the linkage between memorable tourism experiences and customer-based destination brand equity (CBDBE).Design/methodology/approachThe authors study presents a model that illustrates how memorable tourism experiences can influence CBDBE by impacting tourists' attachment and overall satisfaction with a destination. The model was tested using empirical data obtained through a survey of 382 Indian domestic tourists. The data were analysed using the SPSS AMOS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences Analysis of a Moment Structures) programme.FindingsThis study validates the accuracy and effectiveness of the suggested conceptual model, demonstrating significant linkage between the variables of the study. Accordingly, it was observed that positive memorable tourism experiences have a notable impact on the development of attachment and satisfaction with the tourist destination forming strong CBDBE.Practical implicationsThe study's primary managerial recommendation is that, to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, destination management organisations should give priority to memorable experiences and positive emotions instead than only concentrating on product-centred marketing. Second, destination managers must mould their business models based on the link between memorable tourism experiences, destination attachment, satisfaction and CBDBE.Originality/valuePerhaps, the authors' research is one of the earliest to explore the relationship between tourists' overall satisfaction, attachment to a destination and memorable experiences and how they impact customer-based brand equity (CBBE) for a specific urban hill station destination.

The continuous interaction between overseas Chinese people and their ancestral hometowns has shaped the uniqueness of overseas Chinese cultural heritage destinations. Unlike other types of tourism destinations, cultural heritage tourism in the hometowns of overseas Chinese people can bring not only positive emotions (such as excitement, satisfaction, and happiness) to tourists but also negative emotions such as sadness, anger, and regret when they recall or imagine what themselves, their families, or predecessors went through in the past. In the current context of growing nostalgia, the relationship between mixed emotions in cultural heritage tourism in overseas Chinese towns and the attachment and retention of tourists’ memorable tourism experience to the destination and their behavioral intentions needs to be examined. The results of this study show that mixed emotions and behavioral intentions affect tourists’ memorable experience and place attachment. The mediating influence of place attachment on mixed emotions and behavioral intentions is greater than the mediating path for memorable tourism experience.

Memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) play an essential role in decision-making and revisit intentions. However, extant studies have provided limited investigation of MTEs in different groups, especially senior tourists. Thus, following embodied cognition theory, this research explores the components of senior tourists’ memorable experiences (SMTEs) with an emphasis on their body characteristics and uniqueness. Through in-depth interviews with 26 senior tourists in China, the findings show that SMTEs are the result of embodied, situational and cognitive interaction, which are related to sensory enjoyment, embodied barriers, emotional experiences, identity, control and serendipity. Interestingly, our study finds two types of interaction between sensory enjoyment and embodied barriers on shaping memory, discovering the positive role of seniors’ body state on shaping SMTEs. Findings also provide academic and practical implications to help understand senior tourists from a new perspective.

The memory that a tourist experience will leave with consumers is a key variable that can assist researchers to understand better the key mechanisms of a memorable experience. Memorable experiences have powerful connections with satisfaction, repeat purchase, and positive recommendations. Beyond assessing the quality of the experience itself, studies investigating memorable experiences allow researchers to gain a broader vision of the key components that differentiate a memorable experience from one that is not. Various studies have been conducted on memorable tourism experiences, but a consensus has not yet been reached and the present paper aims to condense the cumulative knowledge acquired so far in management and marketing, and identify which areas should deserve further attention. The paper also draws attention to the evolution of experience memories: how they evolve over time and keep impacting consumption choices. This area has been less researched in the tourism literature, although it is also a strategic marketing dimension.