ABSTRACT

This study explores service providers’ perceptions of the luxury tourist experience as a product and its challenges in Finland. To examine the essence of this product, eleven narrative interviews with service providers were analyzed. The findings indicate that service providers facilitate prerequisites for a luxury experience based on the customer’s needs and motivations which may add meaningfulness. The aim is to make the customer feel special by recognizing the different value expectations of the customer. The Finnish luxury tourist experience aims to provide hedonic or eudaimonic wellbeing experiences, in which activities in nature and encounters with people create intrinsic customer value, and the customer’s active participation leads to experiential value. Furthermore, as the context of the experience is a non-commercial one where commercial aspects of the luxury product are combined with the experience, the possibility to gain prudential value may be present. The study suggests that the contemporary luxury tourist experience product can be based on different experiential value elements than those experiences enjoyed in traditional luxury destinations. Furthermore, the study supports the view that luxury services should be seen as a continuum.

摘要

本研究探讨了服务提供商对奢华旅游体验作为产品的看法及其在芬兰面临的挑战。为了检验这个产品的本质，对服务提供商的 11 次叙述性访谈进行了分析。调查结果表明，服务提供商会根据客户的需求和动机促进奢侈品体验的先决条件，这可能会增加意义。其目的是通过识别客户的不同价值期望来让客户感到特别。芬兰豪华旅游体验旨在提供享乐或幸福的幸福体验，其中自然活动和与人的相遇创造了内在的客户价值，而客户的积极参与带来了体验价值。此外，由于体验的背景是非商业的，奢侈品的商业方面与体验相结合，因此可能存在获得审慎价值的可能性。研究表明，当代奢华旅游体验产品可以基于与传统奢华目的地体验不同的体验价值元素。此外，该研究支持应将豪华服务视为一个连续体的观点。