Measuring Tourism Experience: Perspectives of Different Tourists Segments

Abstract

The present study explores tourism experience construct and its outcomes at a local heritage site in Croatia. It aims to investigate potential differences in heritage tourism experience in regard to visitors’ nationality and frequency of visiting the site. The tourism experience con­struct was measured with five dimensions (senses, on-site engagement, staff, learning, emotions), while three constructs were deemed as tourism experience outcomes (satisfaction, behavioral intentions, and memory). A sample of 165 respondents was collected from heritage site visitors. Descriptive statistics and t-test were performed to analyze data and to address the research questions. The results revealed that domestic visitors and the repeated ones reported significantly more positive heritage site experience, and expressed significantly higher levels of experience outcomes than foreign and first-time visitors.