Core and Peripheral Experiences: Incidental, Accidental or Intentional

Recent tourism research identified some challenges for the future of the sector. Of principal concern was the increasing importance of collaboration and especially coopetition not only within a tourism destination but also among destinations to ensure growth and survival within the sector within regions (Mariani, Buhalis, Longhi, & Vitouladiti, 2014). This paper aims to update this discussion by elaborating the definition and meaning of core and peripheral tourism destinations to inform the design of the user experience in destination management, the marketing communications of tourism destinations and the collaboration and coopetition in destination management. Redefining the tourism product and better understanding the customer‟s perceptions of core and peripheral experiences, how they choose and bundle them can inform how the collaboration of providers at destinations can contribute to overcoming challenges and create regional opportunity and growth and promote destination choice. This paper examined in depth the ethnography of twenty-one travellers based in Brisbane (Qld. Australia). Each participant was interviewed to gain their responses to questions about their demographic profile, their destination choice, travel group type, what they enjoyed at the destination, their motivation for choosing their destination and the experience sought together with how they obtained their information.