Tourist experience as an enabler for the development of tourism destinations

The word “experience” comes from the ancient Latin experientia, i.e. act of try- ing, from the verb experiri (to try). Its etymology refers then to “something person- ally encountered, undergone, or lived through” (Merriam-Webster dictionary) or to “something that happens to a person that affects how she/he feels” (Cambridge dictionary). In recent years, the concept of experience has gained a fundamental relevance in managerial literature and in business practice. In particular, the consumption of experience (Pine and Gilmore 1999) has been identified as one of the most im- portant driver of development of many global business activities. In fact, more than the ability to produce high quality products, it is the delivery of a memorable consumption experience that matters in the emerging experience economy. Several recent evidences confirm that the high quality of products is not able to influence the selection process of global consumers inside markets (Pine and Gilmore 1999, 2002), while experiential marketing theory states that firms have to invest in a dis- tinct value-added provision for products and services with a significant high level of functional quality. In fact, in the emerging experience economy more than the ability to produce high quality products, it seems that it is the supply of a memora- ble consumption experience that matters (Barbini et al. 2012). The experiential ap- proach offers a different look at the consumers and represents a helpful framework for better recognizing the importance of some neglected variables by researchers such as the roles of emotions or the significance of symbolism in consumption (Ad- dis and Holbrook, 2001).