Tourist Behaviour and Visitor Experience

Tourist behaviour encompasses the motives, decisions and emotional responses that individuals exhibit from trip planning through post-travel reflection. It reflects a blend of intrinsic drives—such as the search for novelty, rest or cultural contact—and external influences, including technology, social media and destination image. Visitor experience refers to the series of interactions, sensations and meanings accumulated at a destination, shaped by service quality, environmental stimuli, storytelling and opportunities for active engagement. Key dimensions include sensory perception (sound, sight, taste), co-creation of activities with hosts or technology, cognitive processing of memories and emotional resonance. A memorable experience can reinforce place attachment, well-being and loyalty, stimulate word-of-mouth and encourage sustainable practices. Advances in biometric feedback, immersive media and participatory platforms have enabled managers to tailor offerings and adapt in real time, blurring the boundary between pre-trip expectations and post-trip recollections and boosting both hedonic (pleasure-seeking) and eudaimonic (meaning-seeking) outcomes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Analyses of soundscape perceptions in a historic rural town reveal that natural and human-made audio cues each strengthen flow states and vivid memories, with natural sounds showing the greatest impact. Those enhanced memories in turn bolster intentions to revisit and advocate for the destination, highlighting sound design as a low-cost yet powerful lever for experience optimisation. A qualitative investigation of family cruise travel in Taiwan identifies three experiential stages—anticipation, participation and recall—and shows how itinerary choices (ports of call, onboard entertainment and dining) drive emotional fulfilment at each stage. Insight into family-oriented motivations (novelty, convenience, social bonding) offers cruise operators a framework for tailoring shore excursions, cabin layouts and children’s programmes to maximise satisfaction and intent to rebook.

Tourist Behaviour and Visitor Experience publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in tourist behaviour and visitor experience across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Tourist behaviour: The decision-making processes, actions and emotional responses that shape a traveller’s choices and conduct before, during and after a trip.
Visitor experience: The cumulative perceptions, emotions and memories formed through interactions with a destination’s services, environment and cultural offerings.
Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE): An encounter during travel that is consciously encoded and recalled positively over time, influencing future behaviour.
Servicescape: The physical and sensory environment in which tourism services are delivered, encompassing design, ambience and technology.
Co-creation: The collaborative process in which visitors and providers jointly design, personalise and enrich tourism offerings.
Place attachment: The emotional bond and sense of belonging that visitors develop toward a destination, reinforcing loyalty and advocacy.

References

1. Memorable wildlife tourism experience: Evidence from the Mole National Park. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management (2024).
2. Tourism memory, mood repair and behavioral intention. Annals of Tourism Research (2022).
3. Experience-driven well-being: the case of unmanned smart hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (2024).
4. The soundscape and tourism experience in rural destinations: an empirical investigation from Shawan Ancient Town. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2024).
5. Exploring motivation via three-stage travel experience: how to capture the hearts of Taiwanese family-oriented cruise tourists. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2023).