COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR SHAPING TOURIST EXPERIENCE IN SOCIOCULTURAL EVENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32999/ksu2307-8030/2026-60-5Keywords:
communicative management, event technologies, tourism, tourist experience, sociocultural events, communication technologies, tourist behavior, feedback, tourist engagementAbstract
The relevance of the study is determined by the growing importance of tourist experience as a key component of participation in sociocultural events and by the need to manage communication with visitors throughout their interaction with an event. In contemporary tourism, impressions are shaped not only during direct attendance but also through expectations, interpretation of cultural meanings, emotional engagement, social interaction, reflection, and subsequent communication. This makes it important to consider communication technologies as an integrated managerial toolkit rather than solely as instruments for informing and promoting events. The article discusses the relationship between communicative management, event technologies, sociocultural activities, and tourist experience. Particular attention is paid to sociocultural events as environments in which cultural content, organized participation, interaction among stakeholders, and tourism consumption are combined. The paper addresses the role of communication technologies at the pre-event, event, and post-event stages of the tourist journey and considers their functions in shaping expectations, supporting orientation and interpretation, encouraging participation, maintaining engagement, and facilitating reflection. The discussion also covers storytelling, social media communication, visual content, navigation tools, mobile applications, QR technologies, gamification, augmented reality, interactive formats, feedback mechanisms, and user-generated content. Special attention is devoted to tourists as active participants and co-creators of experience rather than passive recipients of information. The article further considers feedback as a managerial mechanism for adapting communication decisions and maintaining continuity between completed and future events. The issues discussed provide a basis for understanding tourist experience management as a continuous communication process that integrates event content, visitor interaction, co-creation, and post-event engagement.
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1. Hosany S., Sthapit E., Björk P. (2022) Memorable tourism experience: A review and research agenda. Psychology & Marketing, vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 1467–1486. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21665
2. Sthapit E., Coudounaris D. N. (2018) Memorable tourism experiences: antecedents and outcomes. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 72–94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2017.1287003
3. Kim H., Chen J. S. (2023) ‘Moments to be Had’: Understanding the experience of memorable tourism moments. Tourism Management, vol. 95, article 104674. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104674
4. Richards G. (2020) Measuring the dimensions of event experiences: applying the Event Experience Scale to cultural events. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 422–436. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19407963.2019.1701800
5. Bustard J. R. T., Bolan P., Devine A., Hutchinson K. (2019) The emerging smart event experience: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Tourism Review, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 116–128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-10-2017-0156
6. Lin H., Zhang M., Gursoy D. (2022) Effects of tourist-to-tourist interactions on experience cocreation: A self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Travel Research, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 1105–1120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211019476
7. Deng Y., Lee H. M., Lee T. J., Hyun S. S. (2024) Co-creation of the tourist experience: A systematic assessment scale. Tourism Management Perspectives, vol. 51, article 101212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2023.101212
8. Cuomo M. T., Tortora D., Foroudi P., Giordano A., Festa G., Metallo G. (2021) Digital transformation and tourist experience co-design: Big social data for planning cultural tourism. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 162, article 120345. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120345
9. Brown A. E., Donne K., Fallon P., Sharpley R. (2020) From headliners to hangovers: Digital media communication in the British rock music festival experience. Tourist Studies, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 75–95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797619885954
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11. Chen Z., King B., Suntikul W. (2020) Co-creation of value for cultural festivals: behind the scenes in Macau. Tourism Recreation Research, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 430–444. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2020.1737793
12. Chen Z. (2022) Visualizing experiencescape – from the art of intangible cultural heritage. Current Issues in Tourism, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 559–578. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1892040
13. Eurostat (2026) A quarter of EU citizens buy tickets online for events. Eurostat, August 4, 2026. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20260804-1 (accessed September 11, 2026).
14. Kharouf H., Biscaia R., Garcia-Perez A., Hickman E. (2020) Understanding online event experience: The importance of communication, engagement and interaction. Journal of Business Research, vol. 121, pp. 735–746. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.12.037
15. MacKay K., Barbe D., Van Winkle C. M., Halpenny E. (2017) Social media activity in a festival context: temporal and content analysis. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 669–689. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2015-0618
16. Kim S.-E., Kim H. L., Lee S. (2021) How event information is trusted and shared on social media: a uses and gratification perspective. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 444–460. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2021.1943600
17. Tom Dieck M. C., Jung T. H., Rauschnabel P. A. (2018) Determining visitor engagement through augmented reality at science festivals: An experience economy perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 82, pp. 44–53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.043
18. Liu B., Moyle B., Kralj A. (2022) When and how sharing tourism experiences on social media backfires: TMSP model of sharing driven outcomes. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, vol. 53, pp. 155–159. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2022.10.006
