scispace - formally typeset
Journal ArticleDOI

Conceptualising tourist experiences with new attractions: the case of escape rooms

Tomaz Kolar
- 22 Mar 2017 - 
- Vol. 29, Iss: 5, pp 1322-1339
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
In this paper, an exploratory empirical study of visitors' experiences with selected top-rated escape rooms in the USA and Europe was carried out by means of netnographic research and automated content analysis.
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theoretically and empirically explore tourist experiences with the niche-like, yet global phenomenon of escape room attractions. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory empirical study of visitors’ experiences with selected top-rated escape rooms in the USA and Europe was carried out by means of netnographic research and automated content analysis. Findings The results show that this attraction provides new, peak, unique and fun experiences through the challenging activities and social component of the game play. The findings provide an insight into both the authenticity of experiences with novel attractions and the group aspects of fun and flow concepts. Research limitations/implications The findings are restricted to online reviews on the TripAdvisor website and are possibly biased because of the use of a non-random sample. Practical implications Theoretical implications are discussed and explicated as future research questions. They are relevant for the conceptual development, research and management of playful experiences within urban and special interest tourism. Societal implications are also addressed. Originality/value This paper is a preliminary in-depth examination of the escape room phenomenon from the customer experience standpoint. It is of relevance for the conceptualisation and improvement of tourist experiences with new and fun attractions.

read more

Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

‘What’s on your bucket list?’: Tourism, identity and imperative experiential discourse

TL;DR: The concept of the Bucket List has achieved rapid and widespread recognition as discussed by the authors, which is used to communicate specific suggestions of desirable tourism experiences and uses what can be termed the experiential imperative discourse, where the language, tone and framing of the text positions the experience described as essential and obligatory.
Journal ArticleDOI

Exit for success. Gamifying science and technology for university students using escape-room. A preliminary approach

TL;DR: The analysis of students' opinions shows that such activities are well received regardless of background (engineering or education) or gender, and emotions that arise from the experience are mostly positive and the students state that they have developed both specific and transversal competencies.
Journal ArticleDOI

Experiencing culture in attractions, events and tour settings

TL;DR: This paper developed a measurement scale for cultural experiences across different contexts, including attractions, events and tours, in Hong Kong and found that the conative dimension of experience elicits the highest experience scores from visitors, but affective experiences are more significant in distinguishing between different experience contexts and visitor groups.
Journal ArticleDOI

Does culture affect sentiments expressed in cruise tours’ eWOM?

TL;DR: This paper examined the sentiment differences in the content of cruise tour online reviews across North Americans and Europe, as representing the two largest cruise markets, and found that North Americans' reviews conveyed a more positive affect and had a more subjective and intimate tone while those written by Europeans contained a smaller amount of sentiment-bearing words and their tone was more objective.
Journal ArticleDOI

Managing group flow experiences in escape rooms

TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive model of group flow antecedents and consequences is proposed and empirically verified by means of survey research and SEM methodology, and the results indicate that key determinants for group flow experiences are the collective challenge/skills balance, and theming and storytelling.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Using netnography research method to reveal the underlying dimensions of the customer/tourist experience

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the netnography method to validate a priori concepts that have been identified in the literature within the tourist industry in Egypt and identified eight dimensions; comfort, educational, hedonic, novelty, recognition, relational, safety and beauty.
Book ChapterDOI

Gaming Tourism: Lessons from Evaluating REXplorer, a Pervasive Game for Tourists

TL;DR: A novel mobile interaction mechanism of "casting a spell" (making a gesture by waving a mobile phone through the air) allows the player to awaken and communicate with a spirit to continue playing the game.
Journal ArticleDOI

A netnographic examination of constructive authenticity in Victoria Falls tourist (restaurant) experiences.

TL;DR: The authors presented a netnographic analysis of tourists' restaurant reviews and examined how authenticity is projected onto cultural objects, finding that tourists are concerned about authenticity of cultural representations in restaurant experiences, although their constructions of what constitutes real African culture are extremely fluid.
Journal ArticleDOI

Storytelling research of consumers' self-reports of urban tourism experiences in China

TL;DR: Using brand netnography (analyzing first-person on-line stories consumers tell that include discussions of their product and brand use), the authors investigated how visitors interpret the places, people, and situations that they experience while traveling in China (People's Republic of China).
Journal ArticleDOI

Ways of Conceptualizing the Tourist Experience A Review of Literature

TL;DR: A review of past literature relating to ways in which the "tourist experience" has been conceptualized can be found in this article, including theories of importance-evaluation, confirmation-disconfirmation, flow and involvement, among others.
Trending Questions (1)
Is tourist places open in Chikmagalur?

It is of relevance for the conceptualisation and improvement of tourist experiences with new and fun attractions.