Cultural influences on memorable tourism experiences

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of culture on the memorability of tourism experiences. Such understanding sheds light on memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) research. The study employed Iranian culture as its context. Participants were asked to write a narrative text of their memorable experiences detailing why that experience was special for them. A grounded theory approach was adopted to extract themes from data. Results indicated that there were four unique themes related to the Iranian culture that made tourism experiences memorable: togetherness, independence and control, spontaneity and flexibility as well as distinctiveness. The paper initiates discussion for culture as a neglected influence on the memorability of travel experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural influences
• tourist experiences
• tourism experiences
• travel memory
• Iran

Acknowledgments

I would like to show my gratitude to Professor Philip Pearce from James Cook University in Australia, for sharing his wisdom with me during the course of writing this research article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Samira Zare

Samira Zare is a third year PhD candidate in Tourism in James Cook University of Australia. Her research interests are tourists’ behaviors, memorable tourism experiences, and intercultural studies in tourism.