Tourists' World Expo Experiences

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the role of the experience economy in the tourism industry. However, particularly in regard to expos, it still remains a neglected topic of interest in event tourism research. The purpose of this article is to enhance understanding of event tourists' experiences by observing the phenomenon of the expo. By employing Pine and Gilmore's four dimensions of experience scheme, the authors explore how the feelings of time distortion and telepresence, positive effect, and memory serve as discernible consequences for expo attendees. The main findings include the observation that Entertainment experience has the strongest impact, followed by Education experience and, finally, higher levels of experience, with the latter showing a significantly higher level of memory according to different groups of demographics. The authors have added empirical content to the experiential marketing research agenda along with recommendations for future areas of study.