The wildlife watching experiencescape: the case of musk ox safaris at Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, Norway

Abstract

ABSTRACT Wildlife watching tourism show rapid growth worldwide and activities based on a variety of species receive increased attention in the tourism literature. Understanding the relationships between experiences, product delivery and the setting is particularly important in wildlife watching tourism, since the main attraction (wild animals) can be threatened if managed incorrectly. Research investigating the dynamics of participants’ experiences, also beyond encounters with the target species, will help tourism providers develop more enjoyable products, that participants’ will recommend to others. Using musk ox safaris in Dovrefjell Norway as our case, we examine this taking the tourism experiencescape model of Mossberg (2007) as a point of departure. Data were collected with a combination of participant surveys, on-site observations and interviews. Findings indicate that elements seen as individual aspects of the experience in other tourism settings are more connected in a wildlife watching context. We conclude that guiding and interpretation is a key factor for satisfaction in wildlife watching tourism.