Towards a structural model of the tourist experience: an illustration from food experiences in tourism

Abstract

The tourist experience has for a long time been one-sidedly understood as either the peak experience, or the consumer experience. For a better understanding of the tourist experience, this paper tries to build a conceptual model, in which both dimension of the tourist experience are integrated as a structured and interrelated whole. The position and role of each experiential component, such as eating, sleeping, transportation and so on in tourism can be more clearly understood in terms of this model. For an illustration of the model, food experience in tourism is examined in detail. It is demonstrated that food consumption in tourism can be either the peak touristic experience or the supporting consumer experience, dependent upon specific circumstances.

Introduction

In the age of postmodernity, the experiences of consumers play an increasingly important role in economic and social life. It is claimed that we are witnessing the emergence of the experience economy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). Tourism is surely one of the pioneer examples of the experience economy. From the 1970s onwards the tourist experience has become one of the most popular academic topics, reflected in the constant growth of the social science literature on the tourist experience during the last three decades (Dann (1979), Cohen (1988); Dann, 1977; Dann & Jacobsen, 2002; Gottlieb, 1982; Graburn, 1989; Hennig, 2002; Lanfant, Allcock, & Bruner, 1995; Lee & Crompton, 1992; Mergen (1973), MacCannell (1976); McCabe, 2002; Mergen, 1986; Mitchell, 1983; Neumann, 1992; Redfoot (1997a), Ryan (1997b); Redfoot, 1984; Van (1990), Urry, 1 (2002); Van, 1980; Vukonic, 1996; Moutinho (1999), Wang, 1999 (2002); to list only a few).

Despite the growth of literature on the tourist experience, a fundamental issue remains puzzling: What are the components that constitute the tourist experience per se? Is the tourist experience single-dimensional or multi-dimensional? For example, it is easy for us to understand the experience of the Niagara Fall as a key component of the tourist experience. However, it is still controversial and unclear how to define the positions and the roles of eating, sleeping and transportation experiences necessary to the journey to the Niagara Fall.

In social science literature on the tourist experience, most researchers focus on the experience in sharp contrast to the daily experience. The tourist experience is thus understood as the “pure”, “net” or “peak” experience, usually derived from the attractions, rather than “mixed”, “gross” or “supporting” experience such as eating, sleeping and so on. Those experiences that are regarded as the extension of the daily experience to the tourist journey, such as the experience of accommodation and transport, are mostly either ignored or taken for granted.

By contrast, as the tourists increasingly demand a higher standard in quality services, particularly for quality food and hospitality, such “secondary”, “derisive” and “supporting” experiences have caught the full attention in the tourism industry on the one hand and in the literature on hospitality on the other. Indeed, from a destination marketer's or the tourism industry's perspective, the tourist is a consumer, and the economic and marketing significance of the tourist activity lies in its consumption and spending. Even the experiences of attractions that are in contrast to the daily experience, are itself a part of total consumption of tourism product. Thus, in the marketing/management literature, the tourist experience is all about consumer experiences (e.g., Moutinho, 1987; Swarbrooke & Horner, 1999; Woodside et al., 2000).

Thus, in deciphering the tourist experience, there is a discrepancy between the social science approach and the marketing/management approach. The latter treats the tourist experience as consumer experience, whereas the former regards the tourist experience as peak experience. Both approaches catch some important and essential dimensions of the tourist experience. However, both approaches only partially portray the essence of the tourist experience. Therefore, to further advance the study of tourist experiences, it is necessary to transcend the academic schism in both approaches, based on a re-conceptualization of the structure of the tourist experience.

It is against this academic background that this paper sets its task to build a conceptual model of the structure of the tourist experience, in which both dimensions of the tourist experience are integrated. For an illustration of this model, food consumption in tourism is selected as one of the most typical examples that can be used to exemplify the relationship between the supporting consumer experience and the peak touristic experience. Overall, this paper is aimed to provide a conceptual framework for identifying the position and the role of various components in the total tourist experience, and hence to conceptually clarify ambiguities that exist in the studies of the tourist experience.

This paper consists of three parts. The first part reviews both the social science and the marketing/management literature on the tourist experience. In addition, the literature on food consumption in tourism is also discussed. The second part works out a conceptual model in which both consumer experience and peak experience in tourism are integrated. In so doing, both types of experiences are analyzed in relation to each other and also in relation to the daily experience. The third part illustrates the conceptual model of the tourist experience through food consumption in tourism. The relationship between food consumption and the tourist experience is examined in detail, and the management implications are discussed.