engleski

Exploring millennials' memories: setting the course for destinations' attractiveness

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the factors shaping memorable tourist experience. Three objectives have been set: (1) to explain the concept of the memorable tourist experience, (2) to explore which destinations Millennials consider as the most memorable or enjoyable and (3) to investigate the factors that influence memorable tourist experiences from the Millennials’ perspective. Design/Methodology – To achieve the purpose of the research, empirical research was carried out. The research is based on the study of Morgan and Xu (2009). A survey was conducted on a sample of 420 young European travellers. Content analysis was applied to categorise and analyse results. Findings – Young European tourists are experience–seekers who look for an active and attractive way to spend their vacation. The results indicate that young tourists predominantly reported Mediterranean destinations as the most memorable holiday destinations they have visited, followed by destinations in Western Europe, Northern Europe, Central/Eastern Europe and North America. Furthermore, the research shows that destination-oriented memories dominate among the young travellers’ reasons for considering a specific destination as memorable, followed by socially-oriented and personally-oriented memories. Originality of the research – The paper contributes to understanding the concept of the memorable tourist experience as well as the sources of memorability from the Millennials’ perspective. The research results are valuable to marketing managers in tourist destinations, empowering them to create a tourism offering that will generate unforgettable experiences.

memorability, tourist experience, young tourists, Millennials, tourist destination

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