The new age experience in Sedona, Arizona

Date
2013-05-16
Authors
Poulston, JM
Pernecky, T
Supervisor
Item type
Conference Contribution
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Queen Margaret University
Abstract

This working paper examines the potential to customize a New Age destination, using data collected from hospitality and tourist operators at Sedona, Arizona, United States of America (USA). Data show that customization is overt at tourist attractions, but that hotels generally limit advertising of New Age products and services to in-house guest information. Resistance to the New Age phenomenon is considered to influence levels of customization, and some interviewees noted a preference to the term ‘spiritual seeker’ to describe their target market.

As customers were offered spiritual development, self-help, and stress relief, it was determined that New Age tourism is an experience rather than a service, providing some support for Hemmington’s (2007) thesis that hospitality is primarily experiential. The paper provides a list of products and services of potential interest to New Age tourists, and the observation that Sedona, while attractive to New Age tourists, is also an expensive upscale resort, therefore limiting access to some visitors.

Description
Keywords
Experience , Hospitality , New age , Sedona , Spiritual , Tourism
Source
22nd Council for Hospitaltiy Management Education Annual International Research Conference held at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2013-05-16to 2013-05-17, published in: Council for Hospitality Management Education's (CHME) Annual Research Conference 2013
DOI
Rights statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in (see Citation). The original publication is available at (see Publisher's Version).