Service providers’ perspective on the luxury tourist experience as a product

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.