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https://doi.org/10.20867/thm.28.3.13
Multivariate statistical analysis of wine festival visitors experience, Doctoral Dissertation Summary
Srđan Mitrović
; PhD Programme Management of Sustainable Development
Abstract
Travel for the purpose of visiting festivals represents a fast-growing segment of the
tourism market and is a unique opportunity for destinations development based on the
fact that festivals provide various economic benefits to the local community. Festivals
can have a significant effect on promotion and brand awareness of a destination and are
capable of generating significant tourism income. Organizing festivals can attract visitors
to the destination outside of the main tourist season and possibly even to destinations and
regions they would not otherwise consider visiting. Festival environment can provide a
unique and memorable experience to the visitors based around their specific interests.
Providing memorable experiences to festival visitors leads to multiple positive outcomes
and should be the focus of festival organizers and researchers.
Wine festivals combine elements of wine and festival tourism and are a perfect opportunity
to create unique experiences. They are defined as special events which are based on
showcasing local wines, food and culture. Wine festivals are usually held in picturesque
settings within wine regions which only adds to their attractiveness and makes them an
ideal platform to create memorable experiences. Visiting wine festivals can be a main
motive for travel to a certain destination as well as a specific experience that visitors
want to immerse in during their stay at a destination. A comprehensive literature reviews
has revealed a limited amount of research that views wine festival visitors experience as
a multidimensional construct.
Experience economy research has been based on the assumption that consumption has
a hedonistic component and that decisions on purchases (or travel) are made with a
combination of rational (cognitive) and irrational (emotional) elements. Multidimensional
model of consumer experience has been originally proposed by Pine and Gilmore (1999) which consisted of four dimensions (escape, education, entertainment and
environment) and has since been the base of a large number of tourism studies that
have empirically tested the concept in various tourism settings. Research has shown
that tourism experiences are subjective to the consumer and context specific. In other
words, experience and its underlining dimensions will greatly vary depending on the
platform on which they are created (i.e., restaurant, festival, resort, shopping) and will
depended on the different kind of socio-demographic and psychological characteristics
of the consumer.
Therefore, purpose of this research is to conceptualize a theoretical framework that
explains the experience of wine festival visitors through its dimensions, ancendents
and consequences. From an empirical standpoint the goal of the research is to segment
wine festival visitors based on the developed framework within the experience economy
context.
Keywords
experience economy; visitor experience; festival tourism; wine festival; visitor segmentation
Hrčak ID:
290256
URI
Publication date:
16.9.2022.
Visits: 670 *