The Concept of Experiential Marketing - Essay Example

EXPERIENTIAL NATURE OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MARKETING Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction Tourisms offer a rich setting to investigate multiple aspects of experiential consumption. All types of tourism offer experiences with the very yearning for experience being the important driver of tourism. However, individuals seek diverse forms of experiences with many of tourists seeking authentic and participative experiences, which permit them to experience the spirit of a certain place and attain a deeper comprehension of its explicit features. Although tourists may not gain tangible benefits from enjoyment of major tourist facilities and cuisine, they treasure the experience they obtain from the visits. Tourist’s experience links to the total upshot of combination of products, services, the environment and the hospitality accorded. The temperament of these experiences is crucial to the hospitality and tourism industry because the products and services offered in this industry are experiential. This essay discusses the nature of the experience economy, the importance of experiences in tourism and hospitality, and highlights the concept of experiential marketing and its applicability in tourism and hospitality. The Nature of the Experience Economy The experience economy focuses on the production of memorable and engaging experience. My visit to one the largest tourism and hospitality firm was inspired by the desire to seek experiences that could affect and change me. The beneficial experiences obtained by tourists are the hub of tourism. Knutson and Beck (2004, p.25) assert that the concept of the experience economy has grown with the convergence of three major forces that include the increasing competitive intensity, a more sophisticated, demanding and affluent consumer base and the novel technology to fuel innovative and creative experience. Evidently, the experience venues across the world with an example the Las Vegas theme hotels are part of the experience economy. Knutson and Beck (2004) further asserts that experiences are distinctive economic offerings that requires firms to stage an experience whenever they interact with consumers and connect with them in a personal memorable manner. Pine and Gilmore (2009) who assert that experiences are a unique economic offering as dissimilar from services the same way services are different from goods echo this assertion. People can identify and define experience economy offering because customers undeniably wish for experiences thereby making more businesses to respond by designing and promoting the experiences. The experience economy is as a result of firms selling experiences. Pine and Gilmore (1998) cite an example of a Taxi driver who decided to serve sandwiches and drinks besides singing Fran Sinatra tunes. Through this strategy, the Taxi driver transformed a common taxi ride into a memorable event. The experience of riding in that cab was of increased value to customers compared to the service of using the cab. The experience economy is attained when a firm uses services at the stage intentionally, and products as props to engage customers in a manner that establishes a memorable event. According to Pine and Gilmore (1998), services are intangible; goods are tangible while experiences are memorable. Importance of Experiences in Tourism and Hospitality Experiences have often been at the core of tourism and the entertainment business. Companies such as Disney have are engaged in the experience economy. The experience of tourism and hospitality entails the subjective mental state felt by tourists or visitors (Otto & Ritche 1996, p.166). The experience economy surfaces from customer experience with one of its major component including tourism and hospitality activities. Knutson and Beck (2004) asserts that an experience is an indistinct and elusive notion. Although it is hard to define an experience, experience entails the apprehension of a thought, emotion or object via the mind or senses. An experience is an active involvement in events of actions that leads to accumulation of skill. Experiences are important in tourism and hospitality. This is because they can be infused into a product and utilised to improve service. According to Knutson and Beck (2004), experiences are a unique economic offering in the tourism and hospitality industry. It is the experience that customers get from tourism and hospitality that keeps the business growing. The tourism and hospitality industry gains its significance because of the experience it offers to consumers. According Kaufman, Lashley and Schreier (2009), guests assess hospitality experiences principally in emotional terms while providers of hospitality experiences become aware of the emotional dimensions of customer’s experiences and understand how to attain these emotional requirements. Besides being a source of growth and survival of the tourism and hospitality industry, experiences are essential consideration for the management of tourism and hospitality operations. Experiential Marketing and its Applicability in Tourism and Hospitality The hospitality and tourism sector are not immune to the basic shifts in the marketing orientation. Innovative and creative experience design is becoming a considerably essential element of tourism and hospitality industry’s core capabilities. Firms that surpass service excellence and market experientially attain value. Williams (2006) asserts that experiential marketing is a developing trend in the business environment. Experiential marketing entails taking the fundamental nature of a product and magnifying it into a set of physical, interactive and tangible experiences, which strengthens the offer. Through experiential marketing, markers include marketing initiatives that provide customers with in-depth tangible experiences that helps them to make a buying decision. Experiential marketing is crucial for business, particularly, in the tourism and hospitality industry given that the products of this industry are experiential. Tourism and hospitality industry uses experiential marketing because consumers greatly expect engaging experiences rather than a process to purchase services and goods. The tourism and hospitality industry uses a form of marketing that entails creation of inspiring ideas about pleasure and comfort besides marketing that inspires a sense of practicality. This encompasses the basic dimensions of experiential marketing that include sense, feel, think, act and relate (Sumarjan et al 2013, p.166). Conclusion Tourism is recognised as the fastest developing industry and the biggest industry in the world. Tourism, in essence, entails experiential consumption. Variations in sensation seeking are at the core of tourism experience. The developing significance of the tourism sector stems from the concept of the experience economy. The experience economy entails an economy where scores of services or goods are sold through putting emphasis on the impact they hold on the consumers’ lives. The experience economy makes experiences an important factor in the tourism and hospitality. Experiences promote the growth and sustainability of tourism and hospitality operations. To make these experiences, marketers in tourism and hospitality must apply experiential marketing that helps firms to surpass service excellence to create value in the firms. References Knutson, B &. Beck, J 2004, ‘Identifying the dimensions of the experience construct’, Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, vol.4, no.3,pp. 23-35, Otto, J & Ritchie, J.B 1996, ‘ The service experience in tourism’, Tourism Management, vol.17, no.3, pp.156-174. Pine, B & Glimore, J 1998, ‘Welcome to the Experience Economy’, Harvard Business Review, vol.76, no.4, pp.97-105. Sumarjan et al 2013, Hospitality and tourism: Synergizing creativity and innovation in research, UK, CRC Press. Williams, A 2006, ‘Tourism and hospitality marketing: fantasy, feeling and fun’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 18, no. 6 pp. 482 – 495. Read More