Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
According to classic defi nitions, services have been differentiated from products by their
particular characteristics of intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability (Regan
1963; Rathmell 1966; Shostack 1977; Zeithaml
et al
. 1985). However, current literature criticizes
such defi nitions and understands service rather as 'the whole organization's performance in
providing the customer with a good experience' (Edvardsson
et al
. 2005). Vargo and Lusch
(2004a, 2004b) argue that products cannot provide a desired benefi t unless the customer
interacts with them and Pine and Gilmore (1999) realize that products often serve as the
hardware for consumption experiences. Hence, customer experience refers to all direct and
indirect interactions customers have with products as well as with (tourism) services.
The importance of customer experience in tourism
Most tourism products are booked and paid for in advance. Thus, customers have to rely on the
accuracy of accessible information. Besides the information provided by tourism companies,
social media and particularly online review websites enable customers to share personal reviews
on products and services. Studies show that up to 95 per cent of German tourists consider online
customer reviews as trustworthy and 65 per cent would no longer book any travel without
previously checking customer reviews on respective websites (IUBH 2011). Since online reviews
affect potential customers in their purchase decision, and such reviews ultimately refl ect customer
satisfaction, customer satisfaction emerges as a crucial success factor for the tourism industry.
Tourism products generally consist of multiple services and are often referred to as a service
package or bundle. Characteristically these bundles are built around a main (or core) service,
framed by auxiliary (or peripheral) services as add-ons (Grönroos 2001). One single service pro-
vider seldom provides these bundles alone, but rather tourism products link together various
services offered by different service providers. The fundamental product in tourism is the destina-
tion experience and thus competition centres on destinations (Ritchie and Crouch 2000). In this
context, Buhalis (2000) defi nes destinations as 'amalgams of tourism products, which offer an
integrated experience to consumers'. The overall customer experience of a destination ultimately
depends on the sum of each service experience within a destination, which is provided by various
companies. However, the variety of stakeholders involved in this destination experience induces
an almost intrinsic confl ict of interest. Since service providers within the same branch of business
compete with each other within a destination, to compete as a destination on any market, a rather
consistent branding and image is required, and, thus, a certain level of coordination between these
competitors is needed. One major challenge for successful destination management is to align
individual interests of stakeholders into an effi cient cooperation.
Although a holistic view on tourism products within complex tourism destination gains
importance, the overall customer experience goes far beyond the mere destination experience
and it involves even more stakeholders than those within a destination. The overall customer
experience of tourists starts long before the destination experience in the so-called pre-service
period, when potential customers search information through catalogues, magazines, websites,
online reviews or social media. It also includes the booking procedures of tourism products. The
destination experience comprises all customer experiences during the stay on site as well as
the journey to and from the destination, the so-called service period. The post-service period
refers to all customer experiences after the stay, such as customer relationship efforts of involved
companies as well as communication by customers via word-of-mouth or electronic word-of-
mouth. Such a sequence of customer experiences is always divided into pre-service, service and
post-service period and refl ects the complexity of customer experiences beyond the tourism
product (Stickdorn 2009).
