Experiential tourism: meaning and examples

In recent years we have been witnessing a profound change in the concept of holidays. In fact, more and more people are choosing alternative ways to spend their break from work. Although the main purpose of a holiday remains to relax and disconnect from the stress of everyday life, in recent times it is finding space a new way of experiencing tourism also based on other objectives.

It is precisely in this context that the concept of experiential tourism is inserted, an expression born in recent years but which is becoming increasingly relevant. The word "experiential", a term deriving from the Latin "experiri", meaning experimenting, means a way of tourism based on knowledge of the area in which one decides to spend the holiday period.
To better understand what is meant by this expression, below we will try to provide further information and also some practical examples.

Experiential tourism: what is it

Experiential tourism, also known as responsible or conscious tourism, is a type of holiday based on the objective of directly knowing the place where you are. Already from this definition we can understand how experiential tourism differs quite a bit from so-called mass tourism, still the dominant one today, based on visiting the most popular places in cities or towns, the main monuments and natural beauties. This does not mean at all that all these elements are missing in experiential tourism, but it is a deeper and richer type of experience, capable of capturing even the less "touristy" aspects of a specific territory. In experiential tourism, we prefer to value the quality of the time spent on holiday rather than the quantity of the stay. All of this has the main aim of making the holiday a truly unforgettable and enriching experience.

Experiential tourism is often confused with another term, equally widespread in recent years, namely that of Slow Tourism, in Italian Slow tourism. In fact, these are two quite similar phenomena, but which differ in a fundamental point and that is in the fact that Slow tourism is much closer to the notion of sustainable tourism, as the main objective of this phenomenon is the protection of the environment , of the culture and tradition of a place.

Examples of experiential tourism

Experiential tourism is based on carrying out multiple activities during a holiday that allow you to connect on a human, emotional and even spiritual level with the place. The activities can be different. A typical example concerns the food and wine of a place, the so-called food and wine tourism. In fact, one of the main factors that characterizes the culture of a particular place is traditional food. This is why food and wine tourism is one of the main activities that allow you to concretely connect with the place where you spend your holidays. In turn, food and wine tourism is divided into numerous other activities, such as the tasting of wines and typical products, which involves visits to cellars or vineyards in the area under the guidance of an expert sommelier or through visits to structures of production of both wine and local food. Another typical example is the so-called cooking class, i.e. the activity with which the tourist cooks typical local dishes himself. This activity also implies the need to research all the ingredients yourself and therefore immerse yourself in a real journey to discover the products and characteristics of this territory.

Equally widespread are those activities that fall into the category of nature tourism, such as trekking, both that carried out in nature and the so-called urban trekking, carried out in the historic centers of cities or villages. Alternatively, there are also activities such as rafting or slow rafting or cycle tourism, consisting of excursions to be made by bicycle through the woods or in historic cities. Finally, all those activities relating to the sea should also be mentioned, such as boat excursions or fishing tourism, which consists of spending a day together with local fishermen while they work.