Abstract
The concept of participation has acquired great relevance in the tourism sector, since it helps companies to customize services according to the specific needs of consumers, thus generating a unique experience. Tourist participation can occur at different stages of the consumption process, and can be both active and passive. The distinction between these two categories of participation can make a difference in the type of experience offered and in the subsequent perceptions of visitors. Despite this, little attention has been paid to examining tourist participation in its different facets and how each influences the tourism experience. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyse the tourism experience from the point of view of active and passive participation, and aims to address the differences in the valuation of the experience according to these two types of participation. To achieve this objective, this paper focuses on the field of gastronomic tourism and applies a quantitative methodology based on a face-to-face survey. The final sample is composed of 374 individuals who have participated in tequila tourism experiences carried out in the Municipality of Tequila, Mexico. The results show that the valuation of the experience differs according to the level of participation of the tourist, and that a greater active participation of tourists results in an increase in the experientiality and memorability of the tourism activities.