Hedonic Experience of Visitors at a Heritage Site

Abstract

Tourism is an activity that provides experience for the tourist. The experience is of high importance, and is accompanied by satisfying and pleasurable emotions. The experience allows the tourists to be actively involved in heritage consumption. The purpose of the study is to explore the hedonic experience of tourists at a UNESCO heritage site in India. The study adopts a netnographic approach to explore tourists' hedonic experiences. The results identified the three categories leading to exploring the hedonic dimension of experience while visiting a heritage site multisensory, imaginative, and emotional. The study provides appropriate understanding to the management and authorities by which they can improve the hedonic dimensions for the tourist, and improve the overall experience at the tourist destination. Further findings state that recognizing the relevant sensory clues will help the tourists to connect with the heritage monument better.