Hedonic Experience of Visitors at a Heritage Site: A Netnographic Study

Introduction

History and heritage are intertwined as heritage (Timothy & Boyd, 2003). It is classified by the attractions which can have different classes including historic cities, archaeological sites, museums, and historic buildings (Timothy, 2011). The present-day society wishes to acquire heritage and pass it on to the future (Turnbridge & Asworth,1996). Heritage could either be a physical thing, a property, a building, or a place that could be either owned or passed to another person (Campanella, 2013). Heritage tourism is one of the fastest-growing tourism in terms of visitors and attractions involving millions of people globally. For the tourist, it is a part of experiential consumption while visiting various historic sites with heritage attractions being the main components of tourist travel (Packer and Ballantyne, 2016). Heritage tourism is about the traveler’s experience of place, artifacts, and activities which authenticates stories and people of the past and present. The perceptions of the past of a country help to determine its cultural heritage activities. Cultural heritage helps to share bonding with the community by giving better knowledge about our past, our identity, and our bonding with past, present, and future. The cultural heritage is about human creation which is intended to inform us about (Feather, 2006).

UNESCO provides an international brand and representation to the heritage site thereby allowing to present the site to match the demands of tourism (Salazar, 2012). This World Heritage list allows us to identify, preserve and pass on to future generations the monuments pertaining to history and art (Saipradist & Staiff, 2008). Though the prime purpose of UNESCO recognition assists in preserving and conserving the historical site and helps to increase the footfall of tourist (Adie, 2019). For a tourist, a tourism experience is of high importance which is accompanied by satisfying and pleasurable emotions. The emotional reactions of the tourist while experiencing the tourism experience lead to post-consumption behavior like satisfaction, intention to recommend, and choice (Gnoth, 1997). Tourism is an observed activity where the tourist interaction is the center of the tourist experience (Campos et al., 2018) and the main benefit is hedonic, symbolic of the recognized psychological outcome (Chen and Chen, 2010). Hedonic experience is the major reason by which visitor assess the perceived value of their experience of heritage attractions (Calver & Page, 2013). The experience allows the visitors with active involvement in heritage consumption thereby involving imaginative, affective, and emotional perspectives to the historical place (McIntosh, 1999). Although hedonic dimensions have been studied in tourism the hedonic dimension of tourism experience in UNESCO heritage sites has not been studied. An in-depth understanding of the hedonic dimension of the experience of the tourist is of great importance. In India, there are a total of 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites which provides India with a lot of opportunities for travel & tourism one among them is Hampi. Hampi is a heritage, destination an architectural, archeological site in Bellary district of Karnataka and is also part of the group of monuments including the famous stone chariot. Hampi was established in fourteenth century which was later abandoned after two centuries when it was raided by the Deccan Sultans. Hampi has the remains of fortifications, palaces, and places of worship which were part of the Hindu Vijayanagara kingdom from 1336- 1646 CE. Hampi is also known as Vijayanagara by the ruler of the city. During the rule of Krishna Deva Raya between 1509 and 1529 Hampi reached its prime with the flourishing of international trade which reached great heights with progressive trading practices along with other international trade agreements.