This study aims to provide a holistic and comprehensive picture of the current state of luxury tourism research. In order to do so, 119 articles published between 2004-2019 were analysed by content analysis and a systematic literature review. Based on the analysis of the systematic literature review, the study synthesised the theoretical research streams on luxury tourism research. The studies approached the context via ten different key features. The findings suggest that current luxury tourism research concentrates on quantitative studies, conducted mainly in contexts that present traditional luxury tourism products. The synthesis of the theoretical streams identifies that research is based on marketing literature, and this is discussed with four different approaches (1) consumer consumption, (2) brand management, (3) service marketing, and (4) consumer behaviour-oriented perspective. Luxury tourism is a multidimensional and broad concept that requires attention in academic research. The study also gives suggestions for future research opportunities.
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 noncommercial 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.
The following piece is based on the lectio praecursoria presented at the defense of the doctoral dissertation “The Challenge of Luxury Experience – Service Provider’s Perspective” which was publicly defended on December 3, 2021, at Joensuu, University of Eastern Finland. The full version of the dissertation can be found at https://erepo.uef.fi/handle/123456789/26447
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