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11DIGITAL MODELS RELATED TO THE NEW TOURIST PRIORITIES AND NEEDS
IRENA KIRILOVA EMILOVA
Associate Professor of the Department of Administration and Management, New Bulgarian
University, Sofia, Bulgaria
ADELINA SAVOVA STOYANOVA
PhD Student of the Department of Administration and Management, New Bulgarian
University, Sofia, Bulgaria
Annotation. Digital models have a relevant impact on the tourism sector, both on demand and supply. Advances in digital technologies provide tourists with new digital services able to amplify the experience, but also, they catalyzed the development of new business models by digital enterprises.
The reasons for the higher requirements and the new focus on facilities and services on providing customized experiences are mainly due to technological innovations that make consumers increasingly demanding of the hospitality and tourism industry. This paper has a threefoldpurpose: to detect and analyze key characteristics of the tourist needs, to study the importance of the four main realms in the experience's industry and to make suggestions for better development of the digital models used in the tourist sector regarding the needs and the expectations for experiences of the tourists.
Both analytical and statistical methods were used in the paper. The results were done by conducting a survey among 221 tourists from Bulgaria, in the period January-February 2022. Main conclusions about the new opportunities for digital estimation of the tourist needs and expectations regarding the Pine and Gilmore (1999) framework for understanding and evaluating experiential consumptions that has conceptual and practical relevance to the tourism industry, were done.
Keywords: tourist needs, digital models, realms, experiences
Introduction. Digitalization is changing the way people live, work and travel, and has opened new opportunities for tourism businesses to compete in global markets [OECD, 2020]. Digital technologies have brought significant transformation to the tourism industry, revolutionizing tourism enterprises, products and experiences, business ecosystems, and destinations. Digitalization has also transformed the traditional roles of tourism producers and consumers, with new roles, relationships, business models, and competencies emerging. The rise of digital platforms has increased the variety and volume of tourism products, services, and experiences, with on-demand functionality accelerating the speed of economic transactions, market awareness and feedback [Dredge, 2018]. In the coming years, technological advances and the improved functioning of information and communication technologies and infrastructure will bring new ways for communities and businesses to create, educate, produce, implement, and collaborate [Ribov, 2018].
In our new world full of digital opportunities, a range of factors influence the uptake of digital technologies at local, national, and global levels [Dredge, 2018]. But it's not only the digitalization that is happening so fast, it's the consumers behavior as well. The more opportunities and variations, the more requirements and needs.
The study of consumer behavior includes an extensive history of attention to the emotional and motivational facets of consumption [Holbrook, 2000]. Over the past three decades, significant new understanding of the importance of and techniques for optimizing participant, guest, and consumer experiences has been achieved. This accomplishment provides a wealth of information about specific strategies that tourist organizations in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors might use to fully engage their guests in meaningful activities that may build loyalty and commitment. Among the most widely read and influential books on guest and consumer experiences
ОФ "Международный научно-исследовательский центр "Endless Light in Science"
is The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre and Every Business a Stage [Pine & Gilmore, 1999] [Ellis, 2008]. Although the concepts and processes discussed in The Experience Economy are centrally relevant to the tourist needs, specific attention to potential typification of the clients considering their expectations for experiences and studying new digital models for estimating the tourist's need have been limited.
To meet the expectations of sophisticated and affluent consumers seeking memorable experiences hospitality and tourism industries must redesign and reposition their services. A better understanding of the nature of tourism experiences is necessary for successful redesign [Jurowski, 2009]. Pine and Gilmore (1999) offered a framework for understanding and evaluating experiential consumptions that has conceptual and practical relevance to the tourism industry since experiences are the core product in that industry. The expectation of a pleasurable and memorable experience is what motivates consumers to purchase products and services [Tsaur, Chiu, & Wang, 2006]. While tourists create their own unique experiences, the industry provides the input for those experiences [Anderson, 2007]. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for quality memorable experiences that transform them. Consequently, an understanding of the nature of tourism experiences is critical to the financial success of hospitality and tourism products and services in the 21st century.
The underlying features of tourism experiences have been theorized as four realms (Fig. 2): education, entertainment, esthetics, and escapism [Gilmore and Pine 2002; Stramboulis and Skayannis 2003]. These proposed realms have intuitive conceptual and practical relevance to the tourism industry, but empirical evidence of their validity is minimal. More knowledge about the realms of tourist experiences is needed for the design of products and services that elucidate the best experiences [Jurowski, 2009].
The aim of the study is to derive models for generating experiences by studying the four realms of experiences by Pine and Gilmore [Pine & Gilmore, 1999] to meet the tourist needs. The object of the research is the connection between the new tourist's priorities and needs and the four different realms of the experiences. The subject of the study is the specific features and distinctive characteristics of each realm of the experiences. The tasks of the study include a detailed review of the importance of digitalization in the modern world, an in-depth analysis of the Pine and Gilmore framework four realms of tourism experience theory, a survey among tourists about their needs and expectations according the experiences and main conclusions about different digital models for meeting the tourist expectations.
Methods. Both analytical and statistical methods were used in the paper. The results and the figures were done by conducting a survey in Google Forms among 221 tourists from the Balkan Peninsula, in the period January-February 2022. Main conclusions were done considering the new
Absorption
Passive participation
Active participation
Immersion
Fig. 2 The experience realms (Pine and Gilmore, 1998), p. 30.
opportunities for digital estimations of the tourist needs and expectations regarding the Pine and Gilmore (1999) framework for understanding and evaluating experiential consumptions with conceptual and practical relevance to the tourism industry. Tables and figures were done using Microsoft Excel.
Results. In the period January-February 2022, an online survey was conducted and aimed to identify the role of the four realms of tourism experience theory and to make suggestions for better development of the digital models used in the tourist sector regarding the needs and the expectations for experiences of the tourists.
We believe that this study would allow future intelligent digital models to be implemented both for travel demand and supply.
The target population for this study was limited to people who have proven to be loyal customers of the tourism business from Bulgaria. The survey was conducted through online survey. A total of 221 questionnaires were completed and sent back to the survey administrators. Out of these 221 respondents, 23.1% were male whereas 76.9% were female. About 0.9% were under 18 years of age, 14.5% were between 18 and 24 years, 48.9% were between the ages of 25-44 years, 27.6% were between 45-59 years and 8.1% were older than 60 years. About 21.4% of the total respondents had bachelor's degree whereas 50.9% had a master's degree (Table 1). The questionnaire was based on 24-items in total. Dimensions of experience were measured using 4-items each adapted from Hosany and Witham (2010).
Variables Values Percentage
Gender Male 23.1%
Female 76,9%
Age Less than 18 Years 0.9%
18 -24 Years 14.5%
25 - 44 Years 48.9%
45-59 Years 27.6%
Above 60 Years 8.1%
Education Level Bachelor's degree 21.4%
Master's degree 50.9%
Others 11.8%
Table 1. Percentages of Demographic Profile of the Respondents (n=221).
For this study, hypotheses were tested based on customer's experiences and opinions. Graphics were made using Microsoft Excel. For the purpose of our study, we researched the role of each of the four realms of tourism experience theory - education, entertainment, aesthetics, escapism. For a clearer presentation of the results in the graphics below, we have used the abbreviations as follows:
Edu1 The experience has made me more knowledgeable Edu2 I learned a lot during my experience Edu3 It stimulated my curiosity to learn new things Edu4 It was a real learning experience
Ent1 Activities at the resort were captivating to watch and perform Ent2 Activities at the resort were amusing to watch and perform Ent3 Activities at the resort were fun to watch and perform Aes1 I felt a real sense of harmony
ОФ "Международный научно-исследовательский центр "Endless Light in Science"
Aes2 Just being here was very pleasant
Aes3 The setting was very attractive
Aes4 The setting really showed attention to design detail
Esc1 I felt I played a different character here
Esc2 I felt like I was living in a different time or place
Esc3 The experience here let me imagine being someone else
Esc4 I totally forgot about my daily routine
Research of the Role of the Experiences
60 -
50 -
40 -
30 28/1 26,7 20 10 0
55,2
50,2 50,7
40,7
25,3 24,4
20,8
25,3
18,6 16,3
18,6 10 16,3 3,2
oON ^ ^ ^ & & <& & 4> 4> 4>
Ряд1
Линейная (Ряд1)
Fig. 3 Research of the Role of the Experience.
Figure 3 gives is an objective framework of the role of the experiences. The importance of the four main realms in the experience's industry were studied and analyzed. The customers are sharing that the factor ESC4 (55.2%) "I totally forgot about my daily routine" is the most important considering their needs and expectations towards tourism industry.
The results of our research showed exceptional values of interest in the field of other two factors as well - AES2 (50.7%) "Just being here was very pleasant', ENT3 (50.2%)"Activities at the resort were fun to watch and perform" and EDU3 (40.7%) - "It stimulated my curiosity to learn new things''.
The other studied factors fall below 30%, but still some of them are interesting to be commented and are mainly part of the realms Education (EDU1 and EDU2) and Entertainment (ENT1 and ENT2).
After the analysis of Fig. 3, we can conclude that considering the framework of the role of the experiences [Pine & Gilmore, 1999] and the four suggested realms, the most significant and outstanding factor regarding our surveyed tourists form the Balkan Peninsula seems to be the "escapism" factor, followed by the factor "aesthetics".
This result could serve us as a scheme for typification specific „types" of tourists according to their searches and attitudes towards experiences. Moreover, it can give us key characteristics of the tourist needs that can navigate and lead us through the modern and new digital models that should be used in the future strategies in the tourist's sector.
100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
The Role of Education Experience
Fig. 4 and 5 The Role of Education Experience and The Role of Entertainment Experience.
Exploring the role of Education Experience (Fig. 4), we analyzed that the most important factor among our surveyed tourists is EDU3 "It stimulated my curiosity to learn new things' followed by EDU2 "I learned a lot during my experience' and EDU1" The experience has made me more knowledgeable'. We can also say that studying the Entertainment Experience (Fig. 5) led us to the results that the most important factor in this area seems to be ENT3 "Activities at the resort were fun to watch and perform", followed by ENT1 "Activities at the resort were captivating to watch and perform".
The Role of Escapism Experience
100%
80%
AES4 60% ESC4
AES3 40% ESC3
AES2 20% ■ ESC2
AES1 ESC1
0%
Fig. 6 and 7 The Role of Aesthetics Experience and The Role of Escapism Experience.
We analyzed that the most important factor among our surveyed tourists in the field of the Aesthetics Experience (Fig. 6) is the factor AES2 "Just being here was very pleasantfollowed by AES1 "I felt a real sense of harmony" and AES3 " The setting was very attractive". Finally, the role of the Escapism Experience was analyzed, and the results showed that the factor that makes the greatest difference is ESC4 "I totally forgot about my daily routine', followed by ESC2 "Ifelt like I was living in a different time or place " and ESC1 "I felt I played a different character here'.
Discussion. There are different ways to study and examine tourist needs, but our aim was to identify the role of the four realms of tourism experience theory and to make suggestions for better development of the digital models used in the tourist sector regarding the needs and the expectations
for experiences of the tourists. Considering the results of the study we can assume that one of the most important factors that the customers of the tourist industry are willing to experience is the role of Escapism Experience (ESC4 "I totally forgot about my daily routine"), which makes us believe that future intelligent digital models can focused on this realm and be implemented both for travel demand and supply.
Conclusions. This paper fulfilled its threefold purpose. It detected and analyzed key characteristics of the tourist needs; studied the importance of the four main realms in the experience's industry and made suggestions for better development of the digital models used in the tourist sector regarding the needs and the expectations for experiences of the tourists.
Main conclusions regarding the Pine and Gilmore (1999) framework for understanding and evaluating experiential consumptions that has conceptual and practical relevance to the tourism industry, were done:
1. The role of the Escapism Experience is the most important considering tourist needs and expectations and it has a great influence on the demand and supply of the tourism industry.
2. Tourists show particular interest to the feeling of forgetting about their daily life and routines throughout their travel.
3. The different ways of stimulating the tourist's curiosity to learn new things through the experience itself is an important strategy for successful travel.
4. Travels which include activities offering captivating experiences and fun are more likely to be selected, considering the realm of the entertainment.
5. The overall pleasant feeling and sense of harmony connected to the tourist product, are the factors of the aesthetics realm that meet the expectations of the tourists.
The new focus of the modern digital models should not underestimate the following statement and conclusion of this study: The will for experiences is the strongest aim for travel and it will remain in future as well. The world is digitalized, and it continues to add new ways to meet tourist needs, but we believe that the digital models can only serve the need of the real experience. We believe that this study would allow future intelligent digital models to be implemented both for travel demand and supply.
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