New approaches to the study of tourist experiences in time and space

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, a growing number of researchers are investigating subjective attitudes of people toward their environment with ever-increasing spatial and temporal resolutions. It seems that researchers' interest in daily experiences is not merely a passing research fad, but rather that individuals in current societies find more interest in their own momentary experiences. They talk about their affective states, they spend considerable portions of their income on intangible experiences, and they instantly share personal ‘moments’ through various online social media platforms. These trends are even more apparent in the tourism and leisure industries which aim to generate positive experiences among individuals. This research note points out new directions in the exploration of experiences during tourism and leisure activities. It discusses a new relevant concept, subjective momentary experiences on one hand and presents novel methodological opportunities on the other. In order to portray these new trends, a case study that describes the episodic experiences of festival attendants in a high tempo-spatial resolution is presented.

摘要

现今, 越来越多的研究人员以更精细时空分辨力下调查人们对其环境的主观态度。研究人员对人们日常体验感兴趣似乎不止是一个转瞬即逝的研究热潮, 相反, 当今社会中的个人对他们自己的瞬时体验发现更多的乐趣。他们谈论他们的情感状态, 花费不菲的收入寻求无形体验, 他们利用各种社交媒体平台实时地分享他们的个人瞬间。这些趋势在旅游休闲产业中更趋明显, 因为旅游休闲产业旨在在个人中间生产正向的体验。本研究笔记指出了旅游休闲活动中体验研究的新方向。它一个方面讨论了一个新的概念, 主观瞬时体验; 另一个方面展示了一些新颖的研究方法。为了描绘这些新的研究趋势, 本文展示了一个案例研究, 描述了高度精密时空分辨力环境中节日参与者的短暂的瞬时体验。

KEYWORDS:

• Subjective momentary experiences
• affect
• tourist experience
• smartphones
• Jerusalem
• experience sampling method
• GPS

关键词:

• 主观瞬时体验
• 情感
• 旅游体验
• 智能手机
• 耶路撒冷
• 体验抽样方法
• 全球定位系统

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration [grant number 261652].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amit Birenboim

Amit Birenboim is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning at Utrecht University. His research interests include the application of advanced tracking technologies to the study of spatial behavior, health geographies and the study of individuals' momentary experiences.