Reconceptualizing Tourists’ Extraordinary Experiences

Abstract

Research that conceptualizes tourist extraordinary experiences both from the structural and anti-structural perspective is limited in the tourism literature. The purpose of this research is to develop a new theoretical perspective that re-conceptualizes our understanding of tourists’ extraordinary experience by taking into consideration both the structural and anti-structural elements of an experience. It draws on phenomenological interviews with 26 food tourists. The study finds that extraordinary experience consists of elements such as profaneness, collaborative interactions and conflict-easing, which represent both the structural and anti-structural elements. The findings of this study allow us to question whether extraordinary experience is purely structural or anti-structural as suggested by previous research. Rather, based on the findings, we argue that extraordinary experience is the positive co-existence of both the ordinary and the non-ordinary. As a result, we use the term “synstructure” to conceptualize the tourist extraordinary experience.

Meaningful experiences in tourism: A systematic review of psychological constructs

“…The oldest articles were published in 2006 and focussed on the New Age tourists in New Zealand (Pernecky, 2006), the relationship between the volunteer tourist experience and the long-lasting spiritual experience (Wilson (Zhara, 2006). The latest ones were developed in 2022 and were aimed to examine the concept of craftbeer tourism in Thailand and the meanings attached to it (Chirakranont & Sakdiyakorn, 2022), how tourist-perceived authenticity influences memorability in heritage tourism (Yi et al, 2022), the development of a theoretical perspective about tourists' extraordinary experiences (Goolaup & Nunkoo, 2022) and the benefits of family tourism for parents' and children's wellbeing (Miyakawa & Oguchi, 2022). The supremacy of studies with tourists' samples was impressive (33).…”

“…(Source: Own elaboration) The studies evidenced a few limitations that constitute methodological directions for future investigations. First, there is a need to adopt a mixed methodological approach because the results might be better explored if quantitative and qualitative measures were employed in the same methodological plan (e.g., inductive mixed methods such as focus groups, interviews, surveys and participant observation; e.g., Coudounaris & Sthapit, 2017;Filep, 2014;Goolaup & Nunkoo, 2022;Huang et al, 2020;Laing & Frost, 2017;Sthapit, 2019;Vada et al, 2019aVada et al, , 2019b. Second, longitudinal research should be conducted to uncover all the stages of the experience and monitor the outcomes throughout a period of time (e.g., Bosnjak et al, 2016;Chen et al, 2017;Coghlan, 2015;Miyakawa & Oguchi, 2022;Sthapit & Coudounaris, 2017;Vada et al, 2019aVada et al, , 2019bYi et al, 2022;Yu et al, 2021).…”

“…Having in mind the multiplicity of constructs already used to assess similar phenomena, the review protocol considers constructs that have been related to meaningful experiences in the literature: positive psychology (e.g., Seligman, 2011), wellbeing (e.g., Filep, 2014), mindfulness (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003), memorable experience (e.g., Kim et al, 2012), transformational experience (e.g., Sheldon, 2020), extraordinary experience (e.g., Goolaup & Nunkoo, 2022) and authentic experience (e.g., Wang, 1999). This research contributes to the enhancement of the literature related to three interconnected premises.…”

The impact of food culture on patronage intention of visitors: the mediating role of satisfaction

“…According to Zellner et al (2014) and Bj€ ork and Kauppinen-R€ ais€ anen (2019), food characteristics such as presentation and preparation are a journey for the flavour to determine whether the production of prepared dishes is satisfactory for visual appeal or adds up to the flavour of the food. Similarly, tourists may learn about local culture by tasting food prepared with local products and culinary skills (Goolaup and Nunkoo, 2021).…”

“…Factors of this kind require tourists to gain their own experience of trying an attraction's local food (Suntikul et al, 2020). Goolaup and Nunkoo (2021) recently demonstrated that extraordinary tourist experiences from two perspectives (structural and anti-structural) can shape the tourist experience. Thus, this study shows that practitioners have essential insights into the elements that should be assimilated to design the experience scape and provide travellers with an extraordinary experience.…”