EXPERIENTIAL TRAVEL IN BUSINESS TOURISM IN BUDAPEST - CHALLENGES IN MANAGING CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

Abstract

Searching for authentic, local experience have been a dynamically growing trend in tourism. The
picture is further compounded by the fact that today's travelers are no longer satisfied with viewing
the cultural heritage of the place they are visiting, but are looking for an engaging experience,
instead of passive observation, through which they can become part of the local community and
culture and experience the authentic lifestyle. The so-called experiential travel is the driver for
product development particularly in urban destinations. The authors’ assumption is that
experiential travel can be a motivation not only at leisure tourism but for business tourists, in this
paper, particularly, the conference tourists, as well. The objective of the research introduced in this
paper is to analyze the motivations and re-visit intentions of conference tourists on a big sample of
102 responses, further on to find out how the experiential travel can drive the activities during and
after conferences. Further on management or organizers implications are crystallized to solve the
questions arisen by the results due to the time limit of the business tourists.