How meaningful is your visitor experience?
This was a transformational experience for me.
“In this new era of travel, people are actively seeking experiences
that enrich, awaken and transform them,
and, eventually, the world.”
I have been exploring more about the buzz (and demand) around meaningful and transformational experiences, which has been inspired by the work I have the privilege of doing with Tourism & Events Queensland delivering their Transformational Experiences Mentoring Program.
I have also been reflecting on the many great experiences that I have had across Australia and beyond and, to be frank, I can only remember a couple that I would classify as meaningful or transformational.
Recently I had the opportunity to go to Bali with my teenage daughter and, whilst this is not a destination I would ever imagine visiting, I experienced transformation on one particular day. The Tirta Empul Temple is a significant cultural site in Bali dedicated to Vishnu, who is the Hindu god of water. The name of the temple means ‘holy water spring’ in Balinese. Whilst it was quite busy with visitors, the transformation for me came from our local guide who shared with us the local culture and invited us to take part in their holy practice. This enriched me, it awakened me - it transformed me.
I am even more inspired to support more destinations and operators across regional Australia to elevate their experience/s!
How meaningful or transformational is your experience?
Have you considered how you can shift your current experience offering to be more meaningful?
Why should we invest our little time and energy into this when we are already busy?
If you are asking these questions, I encourage you to watch the video below where Joe Pine clearly explains the shift from the Experience Economy to the Transformation Economy.
Destinations must transform in order to be magnets for visitors and residents, and our ability to do so relies on doubling down on experiences. What worked yesterday, however, is likely not going to work today - too many forces have shifted. So, what do destinations need to do?
If this does not inspire you to take action I am not sure what will:
Tip for those short on time: You don’t need to watch the video – you can put it on 1.25 speed and listen to the audio whilst you are driving or out for a walk or run. I listened whilst I was trail running – this is when my brain works most creatively. 🙂
Here are a few key moments that resonated with me, and got my creative juices flowing…
At 3 minutes: The progression of economic value
Here Joe explains the shift that is happening in the economy: value is moving from services to experiences. We are currently in an experience economy, and experiences are a distinct economic offering!
The progression of economic value.
At 9.08 minutes: Joe asks three questions to get us thinking about the experience economy.
Questions on the experience economy
The third question, ‘Have you found ways to explicitly charge fees for experiences?’, is a pertinent one, and a key discussion that I often find myself having with farmers who are looking to diversify into tourism. It is hard for them to get their head around charging for an experience because they are so used to selling commodities, exchanging a physical product.
At 10.26 minutes: We are no longer just competing with businesses within our region, state or country, we now compete against the world as we shift further in an experience economy. You compete for people’s time, attention and money. You need to create experiences that become your marketing – as a destination or a business, great experiences will be your marketing!! The experiences will make people want to come to you!
At 15:30 minutes: The rise of authenticity – ‘authentic’ has become the new consumer sensibility. Joe talks about two things you should ask yourself to determine how authentic you are being…
Are you
Being true to yourself?
Being what you say you are?
At 23:00 minutes: Joe explains the shift we are now in, from a service economy to a transformation economy:
The progression of economic value to transformation.
Joe talks about how change is hard, so people are looking to companies for help. He explains what consumers are looking for in terms of transformation and why they are looking for it: we want to be better humans!
Transformational experiences are a different mindset and one that we need to shift into.
From 26:11 minutes, Joe shares some great examples of how companies progress through the economic value ladder to ultimately add transformational experiences.
At 36:25 minutes: Joe explains that transformation is about achieving aspirations and talks about how we need to look at our customers, residents, visitors, etc, and think about what they are aspiring to become. Only then can we start to design experiences that will help them achieve that aspiration. It’s about the outcomes that people are looking for in themselves.
At 40 minutes: Joe outlines the core elements in the transformation economy:
Health and well being
Wealth and prosperity
Wisdom and understanding
Purpose and meaning
At 42 minutes: Joe explains the important effect of time on economic value. He states that the worst thing you can do is waste people’s time. He explains that when you offer transformational experiences, your customers feel that their time is well invested. He links this to how destinations are now charging a fee to visit such as Venice, and why this works.
The value created comes from the functionality provided plus the value of time used.
I hope that this has got you thinking!
If you have had a meaningful or transformational experience please share it with me and I’ll add it to my bucket list 😉