A critical review and assessment of the last 15 years of experience design research in a nature-based tourism context

ABSTRACT

This paper delivers a critical review and assessment of the last 15 years of experience design research in an NBT context. We employed a systematic approach to review the literature and identified 99 relevant out of 1378 studies published in selected databases. The analysis has demonstrated that research on NBT experience design is cross-disciplinary and faces increasing interest. Despite significant progress, the concept of the NBT visitor experiences is still vague and lacks systematic understanding. Destination managers must focus on structuring visitor opportunities in line with market requirements and consistent with their legal and organizational mandates. This requires understanding the linkages between visitor participation, expectation, and outcomes from NBT activities to influence settings and co-design memorable experiences, reduce hassles, and promote proenvironmental behaviour and visitor commitment. Monitoring visitor experiences remained poorly defined, with few advances to its definition and measurement. Major lessons learned and new avenues for research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Visitor experience
• nature-based tourism
• experience design
• experience monitoring
• stakeholder involvement
• ecotourism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).