The future luxury hotel room: Experts' views on memorable guest experience generators

Abstract

Recognized as the primary market forces behind the ‘experience economy’ phenomenon -globalization, advances in technology and rising consumer affluence, have motivated producers in the luxury hotel sector to adapt products and services to include unique experiences. Profound changes have also been observed in how tourists engage with destinations, attractions and hotels, while increasingly seeking memorable experiences. The purpose of this research was to identify how producers responsible for the design and development of luxury hotel guest rooms respond to or intend to respond to consumer demands for memorable experiences, now and in the future (to the year 2020). The study engaged expert producers in a Delphi-like study using Pine and Gilmore’s (1998) experience framework to identify the primary memorable experience generator categories that producers considered essential to generating new sources of economic value when designing the future luxury hotel room.