Traveler sensoryscape experiences and the formation of destination identity

Abstract

Every destination needs to create a unique identity to sustain competition. However, it is difficult to create a destination identity between alternatives which share the same market and have similar environments. As creating the destination identity for travelers requires a memorable tourism experiences for travelers. From the perspective of experiential approaches, the sensory is one of the most vital entity of the destination based on his/her perception elements of an experience and therefore it is a powerful key to identify the destination characteristic. To become destination with distinct characteristics, they should provide positive tourism experiences by stimulating effectively five senses such as sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. This study was aimed to find out the effects of sensoryscape factors on creating destination identity. With this aim, a total of 322 questionnaires were distributed to those who visited Nami Island and 300 copies of questionnaires were used for the empirical analysis. The results can be summarized as follows. First, this study found two single senses including vision and touch are most positively associated with all types of travel destination identity. Second, the result showed the effects of interaction of two senses on travel destination identity and obtained that when combining the senses, the vision and smell are the most effective to create a travel destination identity rather combinations of vision and touch, which are effective senses when acting individually. This study is meaningful in that the study of sensory perception, which was mostly done in retailing setting, was carried out targeting travelers in a destination.