Service providers’ perspective on the luxury tourist experience as a product

ABSTRACT

This study explores service providers’ perceptions of the luxury tourist experience as a product and its challenges in Finland. To examine the essence of this product, eleven narrative interviews with service providers were analyzed. The findings indicate that service providers facilitate prerequisites for a luxury experience based on the customer’s needs and motivations which may add meaningfulness. The aim is to make the customer feel special by recognizing the different value expectations of the customer. The Finnish luxury tourist experience aims to provide hedonic or eudaimonic wellbeing experiences, in which activities in nature and encounters with people create intrinsic customer value, and the customer’s active participation leads to experiential value. Furthermore, as the context of the experience is a non-commercial one where commercial aspects of the luxury product are combined with the experience, the possibility to gain prudential value may be present. The study suggests that the contemporary luxury tourist experience product can be based on different experiential value elements than those experiences enjoyed in traditional luxury destinations. Furthermore, the study supports the view that luxury services should be seen as a continuum.

KEYWORDS:

• Experiential luxury
• luxury tourism
• meaningful experience
• luxury services
• unconventional luxury

Introduction

The concept of luxury is fluid and dynamic (Cristini et al., 2017), and it has changed in the last decades due to developments in society, technology, and the rise of the experience economy (Thomsen et al., 2020). The traditional perspective of luxury refers to scarce products attached to the privileged elite, relating luxury with conspicuous consumption and gaining status (Nueno & Quelch, 1998). The new form of luxury, unconventional luxury, approaches the concept as experiential, agentic, and epistemologically scarce, where the focus is on how luxury is experienced (Thomsen et al., 2020). Due to the changing concept of luxury, it has been argued that luxury has transformed consumers’ search for meaningfulness by shifting from “having-to-being and from owning-to-experiencing” (Cristini et al., 2017, p. 101). Simultaneously, luxury has been argued to be based more on self-interest than status (Bauer et al., 2011).

With the rise of experiential consumption and the search for meaningfulness, luxury spending as regards services has boomed (Chang et al., 2016), creating prerequisites for experiential services such as luxury tourism, which is usually associated with wealthy tourists, who have substantial material resources (Popescu & Olteanu, 2014). However, the expectations of the contemporary, heterogenic, luxury tourism consumer (Heyes & Aluri, 2018; Thomsen et al., 2020; Uriely, 2005) may be based on attributes other than the expensive material factors traditionally attached to luxury at the present (Bauer et al., 2011; Harkison et al., 2018b). Consequently, the concept of luxury tourism has widened from traditional luxury tourism products such as five-star hotels to a broad variety of luxury experiences that offers the consumer uniqueness and authenticity (Kiessling et al., 2009; Veríssimo & Loureiro, 2013).

Because of the multifaceted concept of luxury, and to accommodate this shift in consumer tastes, academics and practitioners need to understand experiential luxuries, which have been neglected in academic research (Yang & Mattila, 2016, 2017); luxury research has been overlooked in service literature, and service literature is lacking in luxury literature (Wirtz et al., 2020). Scholars have not yet adequately addressed the features of luxury service (Wirtz et al., 2020), and there is a demand for further study in the area of experiential luxury in the context of hospitality and tourism (Correia et al., 2016; Park & Reisinger, 2009). According to Wirtz et al. (2020), most studies that have been conducted in the luxury context have not researched luxury services as such; a gap that this study aims to fill.

The study was conducted in Finland. Even though in the Nordic context tourism experiences (Björk et al., 2021) and hospitality research (Gjerald et al., 2021) have traditionally strong roots (Lundberg & Furunes, 2021), luxury tourism experiences are lacking from the Nordic discussions. Furthermore, previous studies on luxury services and luxury tourism have been conducted mainly in a context that offers traditional luxury tourist products (see e.g. Hwang & Han, 2014; Lu et al., 2015; Yang & Mattila, 2017) based on conspicuous consumption; therefore, the existing literature is based on a limited background. However, as luxury consumption has moved towards an inconspicuous form, which can also be argued to require more research (e.g. Eckhardt et al., 2015; Makkar & Yap, 2018), this study responds to the call by researching the products of the luxury tourism experience in a Finnish context. It can be argued that Finland represents a destination of inconspicuous and unconventional luxury that responds to consumers’ quest for unique and authentic luxury tourist experiences (Iloranta, 2019). Furthermore, the study responses to Thomsen et al. (2020) call for more research on unconventional luxury by filling two gaps. Firstly, it responds to the need for a more comprehensive understanding of how products, services, and servicescapes can be designed to allow consumers to experience luxury moments that can contribute to temporary moments and transformations, leading to longer-lasting value. Secondly, it responds to the call by presenting how a different agency is embedded in and triggered by different contexts by giving an example of the products contributing to the Finnish luxury tourist experience. Additionally, this study takes a novel approach and responds to the lack of a service provider’s perspective in tourism research, as noted by Jensen and Prebensen (2015).

Given this background, this study aims to enrich our understanding of luxury by arguing that the contemporary luxury tourist product aims for a different experience value than is traditionally assumed. The study contributes to tourism research by examining luxury tourism experiences. Furthermore, the study contributes to the discussion on luxury by researching experiential luxury services (e.g. Wirtz et al., 2020) in the context of unconventional (e.g. Thomsen et al., 2020) and inconspicuous (e.g. Eckhardt et al., 2015) luxury. The study's objective is to investigate what the Finnish luxury tourist experience offers today, and the challenges service providers may encounter in offering it. To accomplish this task, this study responds to these questions by interviewing Finnish tourism service providers who are involved in luxury tourism service provision and planning its development.

Concepts of tourist experience and luxury tourist experience

The tourist experience concept has received remarkable attention among tourism researchers in the last two decades, and entire journal issues have been dedicated to the topic. Although there is no single definition of the tourist experience, researchers appear to agree about some of its characteristics: it is subjective (Ryan, 2010), influenced by the traveler’s past experiences (Larsen, 2007), and may consist of both memorable peak experiences and/or ordinary everyday experiences (Quan & Wang, 2004). Tourist experience can be seen as a whole, consisting of expectations before and during the trip and memories after it (Larsen, 2007; Tung & Ritchie, 2011). Hence, service providers are unable to provide the experiences but only their prerequisites (Komppula, 2006). However, to some extent, service providers can design, process, and facilitate tourist experiences (Jensen & Prebensen, 2015) by involving tourists, personnel, and partners in the innovation processes (Jernsand et al., 2015).

The research on luxury tourist experiences is still scarce. Many of the studies conducted in the luxury context refer to tourist products with a high price, high-quality service, and material elements that create the environment for luxury (e.g. Chen & Peng, 2014; Lu et al., 2015). However, it is argued that the material elements do not define luxury anymore, rather for the consumer it is the perceived value and the experience (Kiessling et al., 2009). Wirtz et al. (2020) argue that determining something as luxury based on physical experience elements is not possible for services, which should also be approached via subjective perceptions, determined by the customer’s situational interpretation of the experience, processes, and tangible cues.

Luxury tourism experiences are seen as hedonically based consumption experiences (Lee & Hwang, 2011), where consumers seek emotional and aesthetic content to gain pleasure (Bahri-Ammari et al., 2016). It offers possibilities for being in the moment and opulence, supported by a superb location and setting in properties, delivering tailored attention and hospitality, where service providers’ performance and co-creation are valuable parts of the product (Harkison et al., 2018a). The luxury service experience provides a high level of personalized comfort and convenience (Chen & Peng, 2014). Furthermore, the luxury tourist product is equated with details that add a sense of high quality to the experience, accompanied by valued senses of total escape, novelty, and exoticism with safety (Manthiou et al., 2017). The service providers’ ultimate aim is to create prerequisites for a memorable experience (Ariffin et al., 2018).

In the latest studies, luxury is connected to extraordinary moments in which consumers lose their sense of time and place (Kauppinen-Räisänen et al., 2019). Wirtz et al. (2020, p. 682) define luxury service as “extraordinary hedonic experiences that are exclusive whereby exclusivity can be monetary, social and hedonic in nature, and luxuriousness is jointly determined by objective service features and subjective customer perceptions. Together, these characteristics place service on a continuum ranging from everyday luxury to elite luxury”.

Framework for the luxury tourist experience product

In this study, the concept of the tourist product represents the service provider’s perspective of the experiential tourism service, referring to the service provider’s offerings targeted at the customer, having a certain price, and including a set of tangible and intangible elements. The tourist product is illustrated within the framework proposed by Komppula (2006). Based on ideas presented by Edvardsson and Olsson (1996), the framework comprises three basic components: the service concept, the service process, and the service system. The service providers provide opportunities for experiences generated through partially unique customer processes, and the central goal of the service development is to develop the best and right prerequisites for well-functioning customer processes and attractive customer outcomes (Komppula, 2006).

The core of the tourist product, the service concept, expresses the kind of value the customer expects to experience and is based on their needs and motives (Komppula, 2006). It describes the customers’ value expectations of the service offering, reflecting their desired value. The service concept refers to the desires, goals, and purposes of the customer needs (Woodruff, 1997), and how customers expect the alternative products to satisfy them (Konu et al., 2010). Even though there is no agreement among scholars regarding the value dimensions of luxury, and although a broad set of value dimensions are recognized, recent studies have discussed the consumers growing desire for pleasure and emotional value (Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016; Kauppinen-Räisänen et al., 2019) over solely symbolic, functional, financial or utilitarian benefits. Furthermore, studies have suggested that the perceived value may be related more to intrinsic goals with luxury; that is, consumers may search for deeper meaning and meaningfulness in luxury consumption (Cristini et al., 2017; Hemetsberger et al., 2012). The meaning of luxury is subjective, relative, and contextual, and it is embodied in experiential activities pursued by the consumer (Kauppinen-Räisänen et al., 2019).

The service process includes and describes the customer process, which creates customer experiences during the trip (Komppula, 2006). For the customer, the service process is expressed in the form of a service offering presented to the customer as a detailed description of each service module (e.g. accommodation, meals, activities) and/or an itinerary in the promotion materials. For the service provider, the service process is a description of the formal product, meaning the determination and definition of the chain of activities in the customer and production processes, which is, for example, illustrated in the form of a service blueprint (Komppula, 2006).

The service system includes the resources available to the service process to realize the service concept (Komppula, 2006). Applying the vocabulary of Walls et al. (2011), the service system includes physical experience elements and human interaction elements. Physical experience elements refer to the atmosphere of the facilities (cleanliness, comfort, décor, and style), dimensions stimulating various senses (lighting, color scheme, soundscape, and smells), space/functionality, and symbols, signs, and artifacts (Walls et al., 2011). Human interaction elements, comprising both personnel (e.g. Mossberg, 2007) and other customers (Mossberg, 2007; Walls et al., 2011), may support or destroy the experience (Komppula et al., 2016). These factors have a major effect on customers’ feelings (Brunner-Sperdin & Peters, 2009). Several researchers have pointed to the meaning and importance of guides and tour leaders in the creation of positive and memorable tourist experiences (e.g. Arnould & Price, 1993; Hansen & Mossberg, 2017). Both parts of the service system are significant in the consumer experience and satisfaction in the luxury service context (e.g. Walls et al., 2011; Wu & Liang, 2009).

Method

This paper uses qualitative data drawn from narrative interviews with Finnish luxury tourism service providers. In the narrative interview, the participants are urged to express their own experiences of the phenomenon in their own words, which allows the phenomenon to be explored extensively from the interviewee’s perspective (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008). This may provide unexpected insights for the researcher about the topics (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008). As luxury is a subjective concept with emotional dimensions, narratives are seen as well-suited for describing such experiences (Ardelet et al., 2015).

The study’s research approach is interpretive, holistic, and contextual. That is, the world is seen as socially constructed and subjective, where perceptions and experiences may change and differ for each person (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008). Knowledge and understanding of the context are vital for the researcher because meanings and social constructs are context-based (Hudson & Ozanne, 1988).

The sample selection began by using a list of eight luxury tourism companies recognized by the National Tourism Board (Business Finland, 2018), according to which these companies fulfilled the level required in order to be accepted to be promoted on the web page of the tourism board. To ensure that all relevant Finnish companies offering international luxury travel services would be included in the sample, additional informants were searched for on the Internet, using the words “luxury experience,” “luxury tourism,” “luxury holiday,” and “luxury travel” in Finland. The sample was further confirmed by selecting those companies that emerged on well-known international luxury tour operators’ webpages (e.g. Abercrombie & Kent) alluding to luxury tourist experiences in Finland. Furthermore, the selection criteria included the fact that the potential companies had to offer accommodation and additional services as part of their product. Finally, the list of potential luxury tourism service providers consisted of seventeen companies, which were contacted by email. If the company did not reply to the invitation, two reminder emails were sent. Two companies declined the interview request, referring to busy schedules, and four of the companies did not respond to the interview request. Table 1 presents the final list of eleven interviewed Finnish luxury tourism service providers. To maintain their anonymity, no detailed information about the interviewees is presented.

Table 1. Informants, their position in the organization / company and luxury service sector of operation.

Interviewee	Position	Luxury service sector
1	Chief operating officer	Private travel company (Destination Management Company)
2	Chief executive officer	Hotel
3	General manager	Hotel
4	International sales manager	Hotel
5	Resort manager	Private villa
6	Restaurant and front office manager	Hotel
7	Chief executive officer	Private travel company (Destination Management Company)
8	Chief executive officer	Private travel company (Destination Management Company)
9	Marketing manager	Hotel
10	Chief executive officer	Hotel
11	Chief executive officer	Private villa

The interviewed companies had been operating for between 3 and 130 years, covering urban and rural areas. Four were based in the metropolitan area, five in Lapland, one in Eastern Finland, and one in Western Finland. The number of staff working in the companies ranged from two to 150 full-time employees. They also used part-time employees during high seasons. Eight of the companies were privately owned independent companies, and three belonged to a larger hotel group.

Furthermore, the privately owned companies considered themselves to be small enterprises. Those, who defined themselves as a private travel company, served ultra-rich consumers and provided the customer with all the services during their trip, and the same employees worked with the customer from the moment they arrived at a destination to the point when they left. All the interviewees were the owners or founders of the company or worked at a managerial level. Six of the participants were male, and five were female, ranging in age from 31 to 56. The interviewees’ work experience in the hospitality and tourism industry ranged from 5 to 38 years.

Data collection was carried out at the participants’ venues, which enabled the researchers to familiarize themselves better with the locations, servicescape, and companies. The interviews were conducted in Finnish between February and June 2018 and lasted between 50 and 90 min. Before the interview, details of the research ethics, such as anonymity and voluntariness, and the interview aims were presented. Having briefly covered the background information about the company’s operations, the interviews began with a question about how the interviewees defined luxury and how these elements were visible in their product. Although narrative interviews are often pre-planned, the interviewees were encouraged to speak freely and without interruption. When necessary, more detailed questions (see Appendix 1) were asked to enhance the researcher's understanding. All interviews were recorded, and the final transcriptions consisted of 162 pages of verbatim text.

Qualitative content analysis was chosen as a method for analysis, as the aim was to achieve a concise and extensive description, with categories sharing the same meaning that describes the phenomenon (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). Abductive logic based on the previous literature on the tourist product was applied in the categorization, after which each category was analyzed more deeply to identify patterns or differences within the topic. The content analysis formed 14 main categories, which consisted of 85 subcategories. Furthermore, within two of the subcategories one more extra layer was created to make the themes more concise. In all the subcategories, there were 1497 different codes. Appendix 2 summarizes the content analysis categorization. To validate similarities in the findings, the analysis was cross-checked by two researchers familiar with the topic and context.

Findings

The finnish luxury tourist experience product

According to the interviewees, the Finnish luxury tourist product aims to add wellbeing and joy to customers’ lives by offering an experience that makes them feel special. The service concept adds value to the customer by providing authenticity and a sense of luxury, a pleasurable feeling, and/or meaningfulness through uniquely hedonic and/or eudaimonic wellbeing experiences. This positive experience targets active participation and learning through experience.

There was a Brazilian couple who traveled to Finland because they wanted to know why we were the happiest nation in the world. They wanted to understand how it was possible because we didn’t have servants at home. We brought experiences from Finnish culture to them, did things together, added high-quality service, and tied it all together with storytelling. Maybe they took something home with them. It’s about wellbeing experiences, combined with privacy, personalization, and tranquility with nature and its purity. It’s about doing, learning, being, and experiencing. They enjoyed and related to nature. The experiences were simple things from Finnish culture – they just needed to be highlighted. Interviewee 7.

During their years of operation, the interviewed companies have developed a selection of activities, accommodation, meal experiences, and processes that form the luxury product's service process. Figure 1 presents an example of the basic luxury tourist product, which is already at a high level with customer service and physical experience elements. From this base level, each offer is tailor-made according to the customer's personal needs, motives, and wishes. This is a description of the product in the pre-trip phase when the company’s offer is negotiated with the customer and the service provider gains valuable customer insight. According to the interviewees, luxury tourists are heterogenic, and they have high and varying expectations, depending on whether they are ultra-rich customers who use private travel services or ordinary wealthy consumers who do not require ultimate privacy. Some of the companies had both types of customers, which created continuous need for balance when dealing with very different customer expectations.

Figure 1. Example of a product created for a typical luxury tourist experience.

The interviewees emphasized that they aim for a seamless and holistic approach to the customer experience, a service process that attends to detail and takes care of the customer at every touchpoint. Responsiveness and flexibility are the key aspects of customer service throughout the customer journey, requiring the full trust and support of the entire service team working with the customer. Flexibility and different product options are needed if the customers suddenly decides to change their mind or if the weather conditions change.

It’s a holistic experience from the moment they step off the plane until they leave. Sometimes, we even start storytelling before the trip. Everything needs to go smoothly. So, it also requires flexibility, because we’re dealing with people’s experiences and nature. Our guides have a huge impact on this, because they’re with the customer almost 24/7. Interviewee 8.

Some interviewees referred to Finland as one of Europe’s last wildernesses. The experiences Finnish nature offers were related to snow, ice, darkness, or light, and simply enjoying the colors of nature, the smell of the forest, the cool fresh air, and the landscape. The interviewees described Finland’s offering of possibilities of high-quality experiences connected to nature without crowds because remoteness enables privacy. According to the interviewees, a destination image allied with safety and sustainability is valuable for the luxury tourist experience product.

This sounds funny as our customers fly in private jets. For example, we teach them why we save water in Arctic regions. When you explain the sustainability factors, and why and how we do things, they usually value it a lot … Here, you can experience the silence of the forest. That may be frightening for some people, but it’s a safe experience with us. You can hike wherever you want, pick fresh berries, drink straight from the brook or lake, and breathe air that is pure and good for you. You have an opportunity to slow down and connect with yourself, be forgotten in the moment. Interviewee 1.

In the service system, according to the interviewees, the physical experience elements aim to signal functionality, quality, and aesthetics, supported by a sense of safety. Rather than being sumptuous, the atmosphere of the facilities evokes coziness, warmth, and comfort, reflecting high quality and Scandinavian design: simple and natural materials, fireplaces, large windows, and glass-covered ceilings. The physical elements acknowledge all the senses, making it possible to enjoy the landscape and supporting the sense of closeness and connectivity with nature. According to the interviewees, particularly those customers for whom privacy is the core in luxury tourism, what happens outside the accommodation, and the interaction with personnel brings the value, not the physical experience elements.

We’re a forest nation with a strong relationship with nature. Gold and marble isn’t part of our culture and wouldn’t be authentic. It is not only the accommodation; rather it is what happens outside. These days, people want warmth, a smile, great nature, and a good food experience – intimate experiences that get you closer to human beings, culture, nature, and the sense of their presence. Interviewee 10.

Human interaction and engagement with the customer – the personnel’s emotional intelligence and especially their empathy – were regarded in the interviews as the most significant element in luxury tourism product for all luxury tourists. This quality was further described as presence and situational sensitivity, meaning that the personnel was available when needed and had time for the customer. Personnel must create an atmosphere of controlled comfort, enjoyment, and customer relaxation, coupled with quality assurance. The interaction between the service provider and the customer should be warm, real, and authentic. The interviewees described this attitude as “from the bottom of one’s heart,” or an intimate and personal atmosphere. Observing proprieties and intercultural insight were seen as essential requirements. Storytelling must sound natural and authentic, as well as appropriately polite and friendly.

These material things, the details and aesthetics, need to be there, and they need to be right. In the end, however, the recognition of our customers concerns people and how they meet and connect with them with warmth and presence, which may lead to the relationship reminding more like a friendship. Interviewee 1.

From the service providers’ perspective, all this requires continuous training for personnel to provide them with mental models for designing the experience. Personnel working on the frontline play a valuable role in creating the prerequisites for a luxury tourist experience. The correct service attitude, meaning an understanding of what constitutes luxury service, was therefore crucial. The right attitude was described as a commitment to the same aim, with elements of physical and human interaction that aim to go the extra mile for the customer's sake. It was also seen as flexibility, which is sometimes not tied to personnel’s usual duties or working hours as they may stay available for the customer from arrival to departure, 24 h a day. Local knowledge, such as the history of places/locations, Finnish social and cultural knowledge, language skills, and woodcraft, was also essential to add richness to the experience. For celebrity customers, strict confidentiality was also a requirement.

I respect my employees a lot. They know our product and concept well, and they know what’s essential with luxury. And we’ve discussed difficult situations with the customer and given examples of how to deal with them. So they have the ability and permission to adjust the service according to the customer’s wishes. Furthermore, our customers are here to enjoy their holiday in privacy with their families, they are not here to sign autographs. Therefore, we require strict confidentiality. Interviewee 8.

Challenges with the luxury tourist experience product

Interviewees noted that as Finland is a modest and egalitarian nation, the Finnish service system is usually based on self-service, due to which Finnish personnel may therefore lack an image of what luxury level customer service may require and what the customers may expect. Furthermore, because luxury perception is subjective, service providers said it was essential to build a collective mindset of what luxury means in each company.

Realizing that such customers are in a totally different financial situation to ours and discussing what is seen as luxury are essential with this kind of service product. Interviewee 3.

The interviewees mentioned some legislative norms as entrepreneurial challenges, for example, the working time legislation and restrictions related to Finnish alcohol legislation. Furthermore, they all commented on personnel costs because one of the greatest challenges in luxury service was that it usually requires a large number of service staff. Besides finding personnel with the right attitude and skills, personnel retention was seen as a challenge because of seasonality. Therefore, some interviewees said they were willing to invest considerably in their staff's wellbeing, as this pays off in the long run.

This requires a certain type of person. They need to be willing to do this sincerely, and they’re passionate and flexible. As personnel costs are so high in Finland, we can’t have as many personnel here as they would have at a hotel in Dubai, for example. We have to replace them with the kind of people who are truly there for others. Interviewee 5.

The interviewed service providers felt that the difficulty of finding personnel and collaborative business partners that would be able to offer luxury services had affected their service development. Potential subcontractors have been carefully selected and briefed about the customer’s requirements of privacy and service quality. The service failure risk related to subcontractors has restricted the interviewed companies’ growth because they have not wanted to risk the quality of their product and their promises to the customer.

There was a time when our subcontractors were a little intimidated by our company, because they felt luxury was such a strong word. When we explained to them that it was actually more about the authenticity of their product and how they told the story of Finnish culture than it was about traditional luxury, they understood. Interviewee 1.

The interviewees observed that finding the right channels for sales, distribution, and marketing was also challenging. A long marketing and/or distribution channel does not support the need for customer insight and specific customer needs. It might also lead to a contradiction between customer expectations and the offering.

As we’re creating the product from the beginning every time, we need to know what’s valuable to our customer. Travel agents don’t always understand this, because they’re used to just booking a holiday for their customers at a resort somewhere. That’s not our way of doing things, because we’re creating a memorable experience for a particular customer. Interviewee 1.

The interviewees said they have to develop their product continuously otherwise customers would lose interest. As this product – the Finnish luxury tourist experience – is usually formed around elements of nature with the aim of boosting hedonic or eudaimonic wellbeing, the interviewees saw this experience as a somewhat unconventional luxury product that sometimes needed to be explained to the customer.

It’s difficult to compare our product to the traditional one, because we’re dealing a lot with things that come from the experience of nature and how you can commercialize it for the customer expecting a traditional luxury experience. It’s a balancing act between expectations of what we have here [all the resources from the material to the human] and luxury. But here you can have your experience in total privacy whenever you want, using the elements we have here, and we do it in the best way we can. Interviewee 8.

Discussion and conclusions

First of all, the findings of this study suggest that products designed for the Finnish luxury tourist experience aim to respond to the contemporary luxury traveler’s quest for unique, authentic, physically and intellectually stimulating experiences that add novelty and meaning to their lives. As (2019) note, prudential value, i.e. meaning, meaningfulness, and wellbeing, can only arise in non-commercial contexts, where experiential value contains activity, freedom, and relaxation. Hence, the essence of a Finnish luxury tourist experience product is a combination of non-commercial context, i.e. nature, and commercial product features that may provide prerequisites for experiencing more common value dimensions attached to luxury, and, possibly more intrinsic value aspects creating possibilities for meaningfulness and authenticity during the experience. Furthermore, the elements may enable an eudaimonic experience because it is tailor-made according to the customer’s needs and wishes. The study supports the view of Huta and Ryan (2010) in arguing that tourism product activities cannot be categorized as hedonic or eudaimonic because the engagement of individuals affects the experience. This study’s findings also respond to the call of Knobloch et al. (2017) by offering an example of a tourist experience product that aims to transcend hedonic elements and achieve eudaimonia; the study further supports their idea that experiential research into tourist experiences should be broadened to include the concept of eudaimonia.

Secondly, according to this study's findings Finnish luxury tourism service providers aim to make their customers feel special. As an expression, feeling special is multidimensional, referring to status, privilege, or close relationships and the feeling of being cared for, for example. Hence, the service providers must understand customers’ needs and expectations in order to maximize customer experience, evoking value perception (Haeckel et al., 2003). However, value has different meanings for different people, and the same person may find different values in different situations (Rokenes et al., 2015). Service providers, therefore, need to find a balance between different luxury value expectations and their heterogenic luxury consumers. The findings of this study are in accordance with Correia et al. (2014) indicating that for ultra-rich customers for whom “money is not an issue”, a luxury tourist experience refers to privacy with family in a resort that supports a hedonic value, and for the wealthy “ordinary” consumers it may refer to a different, exquisite experience. Therefore, luxuriousness relates to something extraordinarily different to our daily life.

Thirdly, contrary to earlier studies on luxury tourism, our findings suggest that the Finnish luxury tourist experience is based on the active role of the customer. It is recognized in tourism research that tourists, in general, seek intensity from their activities, which entails discovery and hands-on, multisensory experiences of tourism, as well as interaction and involvement (Bryon, 2012). However, this kind of involvement has not been visible in the findings of studies conducted in traditional luxury tourism and hospitality contexts. Instead, earlier studies typically refer to reactive value with service excellence, suggesting that the customer plays a passive role and is served and pampered by employees (e.g. Bahri-Ammari et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2015; Lee & Kim, 2019). While the company responds to the customer’s search for intrinsic value, that is focusing on the value that serves the consumer's self-interest, the versatile activities represented when experiencing the Finnish luxury tourist product offer opportunities for the customer to play an active role that further adds to its experiential value. Mathwick et al. (2001) define such an approach as playfulness, which aims to enrich the escapism and enjoyment within the experience. The recent study of Holmqvist et al. (2020) recognized hedonic escapism as part of unconventional luxury experiences, a view also supported by this study.

The findings of this study are in line with earlier studies of luxury tourist experience product (e.g. Chen & Peng, 2014; Harkison et al., 2018a; Manthiou et al., 2017), indicating that the luxury tourist experience product is a holistic experience where quality, a hassle-free atmosphere, unique convenience for the customer, and ease and comfort are the central elements. However, the findings suggest that there is a difference in the expectations of the service level and composition of the product based on different customer groups, which confirms the notion of Wirtz et al. (2020) that luxury services should not be categorized as such but rather they should be seen as a continuum. In the highest ultimate luxury level or as described by as Wirtz et al. (2020) the “elite luxury” level, the product offering is tailor-made in collaboration with the customer in the pre-trip phase. At the other end of the continuum is the ready-made regular luxury service packages aimed at the masses. Furthermore, during the phases of the trip, the customer insight and co-creation is regarded at different levels based on the customer groups. At the ultimate level, guides and personnel acting on the frontline with the customer play a vital role in creating prerequisites to the meaningfulness of the experience for that certain customer by storytelling and keeping the product flexible.

The findings support Hansen and Mossberg (2017) view and see the guide’s role in the luxury tourist experience as facilitating immersion and creating meaning for the individual. The guides and personnel connect the physical experience and human interaction elements with natural storytelling, referring to Bryon’s (2012) relational guide as a storyteller. Storytelling affords a sense of authenticity and allows a “behind the scenes” experience that may add value to the luxury traveler's experience in the form of cultural capital. Furthermore, as the co-creation of the product may be very meaningful to the customer, the relationship with the service provider is more profound, which can be seen in the post-trip phase, when possibly the relationship ultimately becomes more in the style of a friendship.

Finally, our findings suggest that the physical experience elements do not necessarily bring value for the luxury tourist, but rather, the material features provide the basis for the atmosphere of the servicescape, which needs to be of high quality. This is in line with Harkison et al. (2018b), who note in their study that more staff, more marble, and other expensive elements do not necessarily create the prerequisites for a luxury experience. Rather, the value of this product the Finnish luxury tourist experience is formed by connections with nature, which may boost happiness and pleasure, and expand self-understanding and create greater self-awareness (Capaldi et al., 2014). The focus of the product in the Finnish luxury tourism service system is on the elements of human interaction and encounters with the customer, which are in line with the study of Ariffin et al. (2018), and these create the most customer satisfaction in the luxury service experience. Therefore, it is also understandable that customer insight and personnel aspects were regarded as the most significant challenges in luxury tourism service provision. The findings further support Harkison et al. (2018a) in emphasizing the essential place of teamwork, guidance, and attitude among personnel in supporting the creation of a luxury experience.

This study contributes to the luxury literature, luxury tourism, and luxury service literature by providing an example of an unconventional luxury tourist experience product. The study’s findings may help tourism providers tailor their offerings into more meaningful and memorable experiences, especially in their interaction and engagement with their customers. The study’s findings may also increase the understanding of the elements of an unconventional luxury tourist experience product that will add value to the customer. By relying on intangible aspects of the luxury experience, the destination and service provider may gain longer-term value than competing with other destinations and providers with physical product elements. Furthermore, at the operational level, if managers and staff are aware of both hedonic and eudaimonic effects and their potential impact on customer’s wellbeing and lives beyond the consumption activity itself, their motivation and engagement to create the prerequisites for such an experience may increase.

As luxury is a cultural notion, and the findings of this study are limited to Finland, the results are not generalizable worldwide. However, this study provides an example of a typical Finnish luxury tourist experience product that may increase the understanding of new and unconventional nature-based luxury. This insight may be of interest in all Nordic countries when targeting the luxury tourism market. Furthermore, as luxury tourism may be the first to lead the recovery of tourism in the post-pandemic era (ÓNeill, 2021), luxury tourism may be offering one way for the recovery of Nordic tourism and hospitality industry as well as opening the discussion for potential research avenues (Lundberg & Furunes, 2021) in Nordic service research (Gjerald et al., 2021) and tourism experiences research (Björk et al., 2021).

Future research should explore products for the unconventional luxury tourist experience from the customer’s perspective to discover if the experience is valued in the same way as it is from the service provider’s perspective. More research on the similarities and differences in this field is needed to highlight the products of the contemporary luxury tourist experience and the heterogeneity of luxury tourism consumers. Future studies need to understand the customer’s economic background better as it may have a considerable impact, especially in studies of the perceived luxury values of customers. Most of the studies conducted with luxury consumption have analyzed the consumer, many of whom may be wealthy but not ultra-rich. Moreover, as the current study shows, there are differences in the consumer background and value perceptions from the service providers’ perspectives. Furthermore, future studies might also investigate how these experiences contribute to the wellbeing and quality of life beyond the actual consumption experience.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Suomen Kulttuurirahasto: [Grant Number 00170605,00190374].

Appendices

Appendix 1. Interview guide:

Background information of the company and participant

Table

Factors affecting the service providers’ own understanding of luxury

How do you define luxury? What elements of luxury exist in your company? How do you understand luxury, and what is luxury?

A definition of a Finnish luxury experience

Could you describe what you understand by the term “Finnish luxury”? Could you describe what you understand by the term “luxury experience”? Could you describe how you facilitate prerequisites for a luxury experience?

Perceptions of customer service experience and its features

Could you describe what you understand by the term “luxury service”? Could you describe what it requires from the service provider? Could you describe from what aspects the customer acquires the feeling that this is luxury? Could you describe what your customers’ value and seek from Finnish luxury?

Probes for each question: Can you give me an example? What do you mean by that? Could you explain and describe that a little more?

Appendix 2. Content analysis categorization

Table

Main category	Subcategories	Under subcategory
Definition of luxury 188	Luxury 7 Old luxury 7 New luxury 21 Finnish luxury 153	Finnish luxury 153: Purity 12 Remoteness and privacy 16 Well-being 9 Nature 25 Freedom 5 Tranquility 7 Safety 5 Uniqueness 34 Authenticity 19 Humans and interaction 15 Storytelling Finnish culture and society 6
Luxury tourist experience product development 384	Creating the prerequisites 246 Storytelling as part of product development 21 Marketing 10 Sustainability 12 High-quality 21 Holistic 8 Customer expectation 15 Experience 38 Service recovery 9 Multisensory 4	Creating the prerequisites: Building details 24 Possibility to be creative 15 Starting with internal minimal requirements 17 Co-creating with customer 28 Having a strong brand identity to keep the luxury and quality 32 Great subcontractors and network 21 Role of guide and employee 25 Knowing the customer 45 Continuous learning and development 8 Good processes 31
Challenges 171	Balancing with luxury expectations 46 Balancing with business 37 Balancing with customers 28 Network and subcontractors 13 Employee 11 Sales and marketing 10 Destination image 26
Customer journey 66	Pre-trip 30 During-trip 25 Post-trip 11
Human interaction elements and customer encounter 192	Flexibility 14 Empathy and warmth 41 Seamless 10 Storytelling in encounter 4 Employee 16 Comfort 10 Presence and situational awareness 28 Personalization 32 Great customer service 33 Other skills in encounter 4
Physical experience elements 136	Certain luxury level with well-known brands 28 High-quality 19 Cleanliness 9 Bed and linen 6 Physical elements giving ability to connection with nature or feeling of authenticity 15 Aesthetics 13 Multisensory 10 Atmosphere 19 Storytelling as a way to tie physical experience elements to human experience 10 Technology 7
Customer 43	Different nationalities 8 High expectation 11 Different expectation 8 Heterogenic 9 Has a “backstage access” with stories 3 Demanding clientele, but willing to pay 4
Service Provider 25	Own experience 12 Own luxury 4 Own attitude 9
Possibilities of Finnish luxury tourism products 27	Potentiality as luxury 12 Seasonality 5 Destination 4 Uniqueness and remoteness 6
Future of luxury 41	Uniqueness 16 Sustainability 13 Experiences 4 Technology 5 Polarization of luxury 3
Marketing and social media 25	Social media and customer feedback 5 Channels 4 Customer acquisition 3 Segments 5 Other 8
Employee and teamwork 44	Strategic direction to luxury 4 Importance of teamwork 11 Attitude and skills of employee 25 Wellbeing of employees 4
Activities 94	Culture and Santa Claus 10 Sports related 13 Animal related 9 Meal 8 Being in nature 12 Nature (picking up berries etc.) 19 Fishing & Boating 5 Expertise knowledge 8 Wellbeing and sauna 10
Experience 61	Uniqueness 21 Authentic 11 Personalized 10 Privacy 6 Immersion and being in the moment 13