Experiential Aspects of Balloon Tourism within the Context of Destination Marketing: A Qualitative Study


GÜZEL F. Ö., ŞAHİN İ.

ESKISEHIR OSMANGAZI UNIVERSITESI IIBF DERGISI-ESKISEHIR OSMANGAZI UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, cilt.14, sa.3, ss.793-809, 2019 (ESCI) identifier

Özet

In today's' competitive tourism markets, offering the memorable and unique destination experiences became an important advantage. Considering the concept of the social and psychological needs, and motivations, it is clear that balloon tours are important in positioning and differentiation strategies of destinations. The aim of the study is to determine the dimensions of the balloon tour experiencein context of the adventure tourism. A qualitative research methodology is embraced and the reviews on Tripadvisor were analyzed with content analysis. The findings have revealed that the balloon experience has been classified in four dimensions (educational, esthetic, entertainment, escapist). The findings conform to the 4E experience framework developed by Pine & Gilmore (1999). The esthetic and entertainment dimensions are leading realms of balloon experience.