ABSTRACT
This chapter distinguishes different types or categories of (customer) experiences, which can be expressed based on two dimensions – duration and outcome. These dimensions can be used to create a typology of experiences consisting of four main types or categories: epiphanies, transformative experiences, peak experiences and extended experiences. The key characteristics of these four categories of experiences are described in detail and illustrated with further examples, also from tourism.
Subsequently, this chapter explains why epiphanies are not very likely to serve as the starting point for purposely designing, staging and managing experiences within tourism contexts. It also explains why and illustrates how all three other types of experiences can very well act as a key ingredient of the value proposition of tourism providers, and thus could serve as (an important component of) the core product offered by those providers to their customers. Through reviewing practical examples, constraints involved with and key success factors for purposely designing, staging and managing these experiences are highlighted and elaborated on.
This chapter assists future and current tourism professionals in consciously accounting for these constraints and key success factors in purposely designing, staging and managing the ‘right’ types of experiences for the ‘right’ types of customers.
