Trento, Italy

Designing Tourism Places

when 5 July 2019 - 9 July 2019
language English
duration 1 week
credits 1 EC
fee EUR 380

Over the past four decades many researchers have examined various components of the tourism system. This work along with other advances in science and technology delineates four essential advances which now enable tourism planners. First, the development of a considerable body of research in a variety of disciplines and areas of application ranging from psychology, social psychology, environmental psychology, geography, landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, economics, marketing, and communications provides a reasonably comprehensive understanding of the touristic experience and the factors influencing these experiences. Second, the development of the Internet and related technologies now enables researchers to collect and analyze traveler-related data almost anywhere and in real time; this new capability affords new opportunities to understand how travelers respond to various stimuli while in situ, thereby overcoming a number of important limitations of previous methods. Third, the coalescence of the basic theories and new technologies gives rise to a new understanding of design, which argues that it (i.e., design) is not simply a property of the artefact (i.e., event or place which supports the traveler experience), but rather it is a way of thinking. As such, design thinking is a basic process driving innovation and new ways for supporting the creation of customer value, i.e., the tourism experience. Finally, the development of new, highly sophisticated systems (including the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Quantified Traveler) for seamlessly tracking and communicating with visitors enables the tourism industry to manage the visitor experience in much more personal and innovative ways.

These developments in theory, methodology, and application provide the foundation for a new paradigm which can be characterized as Design Science in Tourism (DST) and supports a framework for designing systems and artefacts to improve travel experiences. DST is explicitly focused on the development of new artifacts and, as such, it provides the foundation for enabling tourism managers to develop innovative processes, systems and places. The tourism design system is comprised of six key components: (1) Themes, (2) Stories, (3) Atmospherics; (4) Affordances; (5) Co-creation; and, (6) Technology. As illustrated, each of these components represent a specific aspect of the system which determines which sensations are received and how they are interpreted and communicated so as to create memorable visitor experiences. Thus, one of the most important findings of this research over the past forty years is the clear linkage between environmental stimuli, sensation, emotions and decision making and the nature of tourism experiences.

Daniel Fesenmaier image LION-APP
The goal of this course is provide a foundation for identifying, describing and analyzing the linkages between these six components and the design of tourism places. The objective of the course is to prepare students to think critically about the relationships between these components of design, traveler behavior and the travel industry. Further, the course will encourage students to think creatively about how to design new functions of the tourism system. Last, this course will encourage students to consider the future of tourism and how these new smart technologies will shape it.

Course leader

Professor Daniel R Fesenmaier, University of Florida

Target group

PhD students, practitioners and business participants in tourism and hospitality.

Course aim

Understanding the state of the art in the course topic.

Fee info

EUR 380: The forfeit amount (for PhD and master students) covers the entire participation at LION-APP, including ten related courses in tourism and hospitality during the period July 5 - 9, 2019