ABSTRACT
Why is it important to talk about experience creation rather than interpretation of cultural values? Interpretation has not become any less important, but it forms just one aspect of the total experience delivered to the visitor. Hopefully that experience is special enough for messages about cultural values to have been conveyed, creating the opportunity for further self-reflection after the visit. It has been suggested that creating an overall favourable experience and engaging visitors with educational/thought provoking messages is achieved through the provision of a series of positive micro-experiences from the beginning to the end of the visit (Law 1999). Brett (1999) indicates micro-experiences that add up to a ‘Golden Memory’ should be a key objective in planning and management frameworks. Hence, service encounters, the nature of facilities and their management, ambience, lighting, personal comfort and safety, and so on all play a role in visitor engagement. Tactics that take into account the nature of visitor experience, as well as an understanding of basic human nature, are more likely to be successful with tourists. This chapter outlines such tactics first and then deals with interpretation issues and techniques for conveying messages for this reason.
