Transforming a peripheral area in an emerging tourism destination

How might an experiential marketing initiative, initiated at the customer level, lead to the successful development of a tourism destination? To address this research question, we develop an exploratory case study focused on the development of the Jack Daniel’s Visitor Center in Lynchburg which has been supported over time by independent customers tied to the firm only by brand loyalty. This research develops significant implications for research in marketing, strategy, and organization. In particular, in studying the relationships among experience and tourism destination development, we clarify the significant relationship between experiential marketing approaches and the development of a particular destination characterized by both tangible and intangible heritage while also considering the unique implications of emergent, tourism networks. Moreover, we show how the activation of a tourism destination can be interpreted as a slow, informal process of development of a tourism network, stimulated and driven by tourists. Finally, we suggest that branding management can be applied to tourism destinations to provide tourists with memorable experiences.