An exploratory study augmented reality in relation to the visitor experience in the festival industry

Abstract

In festivals, a memorable visitor experience is regarded to be a major factor that attracts and retains festival goers year after year. Due to the competitive and rapidly changing environment of the industry, providing a distinguished visitor experience is vital for festival organisers to have a successful festival. Augmented reality leverages the visitor experience in festivals by adding more value and introducing different types of blended experiences, which create more interactivity between the festival and the visitors. Through augmented reality, a digital layer of information is displayed and transmitted to the attendees in real time. Whilst augmented reality is a recent phenomenon occurring in various industries, there has been limited research conducted on how it can influence the visitor experience within the festival industry. The purpose of this study is to address the realms of experiences which would be attributed due to augmented reality and discusses how these types of experiences can be executed within festivals to attract and retain the festival goers. This research project adopted an exploratory approach and used qualitative research tools. Firstly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with two types of participants: eight festival experts and six professionals who have experience working with augmented reality. Secondly, a focus group was conducted with nine participants who have attended a festival, locally or internationally, in the past two years. From the data collected, it is evident that the added value that augmented reality has on the whole festival experience and satisfaction levels is recognized by both sets of participants. The results show that the visitor experience can be enhanced through a combination of different realms of experiences: education, entertainment, escapist, aesthetic and social interaction. Results also indicate that though augmented reality is seen as a major contributor to enhance one’s festival experience, there are certain limitations which restrains festival organisers from joining the wagon. These shortcomings provided insight on the visitor expectations on their festival experience, which led to a number of recommendations that can become the basis for festival organisers in Malta to consider when looking to incorporate augmented reality experiences in their festival programme.