Extraordinary Experiences Conference:
managing the consumer experience in hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism, retail and events

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One thing that the Hospitality, Leisure, Sport, Retail and Tourism sectors have in common is that they all exist to provide consumers with experiences. They aim to provide something extraordinary, something which will stand out from everyday life and from all the competition for people's spare time and disposable income.

Experience management is seen as the way to remain competitive in markets where global competition and internet technology have turned products and services into commodities, bought and sold on price alone. There is also growing research interest in understanding the individual consumer?s experience, drawing on behavioural, sociological and ethnographical approaches. These insights can be used for example to explain the growing interest in participative and extreme sports, and in new types of cultural, adventure, sports and creative tourism. Both the managerial and consumer perspectives see the goal of extraordinary experiences as personal growth and fulfilment. It is by providing a stage or space for this to happen that a company can attract and retain its customers. Work is theatre and every business is a stage, as Pine and Gilmore put it.

This conference aims to explore the implications of these experience perspectives to the management of hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism, retail and events. Abstracts are invited from academics and practitioners which illustrate innovative thinking and practice in such areas as:

• Experience Management as a corporate strategy
• Designing and co-creating memorable experiences
• Casting and performance ? the role of staff in experience-creation
• New holistic approaches to quality and satisfaction
• Analysing the elements of the consumer experience
• Stories, dramas, narratives, symbols and meanings
• Experiential marketing ? appeals to the senses, emotions and values
• Ethical and sustainability issues
• Research methodologies
• Implications for academic curricula and learning methods

Presentations using displays, experiences, interactive workshops or other innovative methods would be particularly welcome.

If you would like to attend this conference please forward your completed registration form to Blake Ashwell.

Conference related documents:

• Conference Proceedings (.pdf 620kb)
• Map to Talbot Campus (.pdf 130kb)
• Conference Dinner Menu (.pdf 225kb)
• Conference Registration Form (.pdf 76kb)
• Conference Postcard (.pdf 274kb)