Beyond the Term “Experience”: Towards a New Grammar of Tourism

Experience is the most overused word in contemporary tourism.

Today, everything is an experience. From a walk through the vineyards to a “weekend in a barrel + local platter + wine tasting”, from a night in a B&B with a welcome basket to a treasure hunt in the historic center with a prize at the end—every offer is now automatically presented as “experiential.”

But if everything is an experience, then nothing really is.

The term has lost its descriptive and design value.

It has become a reassuring formula, more useful for selling than for understanding.

And it risks flattening the vision of places that would actually have much to say.

The problem isn’t the word itself, but the confusion it creates

In the language of tourism, “experience” has become a totem word.

It’s used everywhere: in funding calls, catalogs, product strategies.

But rarely do we stop to define what kind of experience we mean, with what purpose, and with what intended impact.

As a result, we design pleasant, well-packaged activities, perhaps effective in terms of promotion… but often without real design leadership, without a systemic function, without depth.

Not all experiences are the same

A cooking workshop can be:

• an accessory activity for general tourists
• a device for gastronomic storytelling
• an identity ritual shared by a community
• a transformative moment in a slow travel path

It’s not the individual “format” that makes the difference, but the design vision that guides the entire experience system and the meaningful relationship activated with participants.

Those who design for places and communities must recognize that not all experiences generate the same kind of engagement or meaning. Some entertain, others tell stories, others provoke reflection or leave something deeper.

Understanding this difference is the first step toward designing with awareness.

This is not a semantic detail. It is the heart of tourism offer design. And it directly affects what we leave with visitors and what we build for territories.

Experience as a Strategic Lever (or as an Empty Buzzword)

A well-designed experience:

• activates meaning and value, not just emotion
• is embedded in a coherent ecosystem, not an isolated event
• generates long-term relationships, not just immediate satisfaction
• strengthens the identity of the territory, not weakens it

But all of this requires method. It requires intentional design, not a superficial “experiential” aesthetic.

In summary

• Experience is not a format. It is a structure of meaning.
• Not all experiences are the same. Some speak, others just entertain.
• Tourism that creates value knows how to distinguish, design, and orchestrate experiences.

Those working with places today face a challenge: to move beyond the showcase effect and build authentic, recognizable, and sustainable experiential value.

For those designing tourism today

Now is the time to go beyond the rhetoric of indistinct experience and develop a new grammar.

A grammar that can distinguish, select, and structure.

A grammar that serves not only to attract visitors, but to give depth to places.