The Urban Sensescapes and Sensory Destination Branding

Introduction

The sensory attractiveness of places has recently been recognized as an important aspect in the management of tourist destinations since studies suggest the positive impact of senses on memorable travel experience (Agapito et al., 2014). Even though tourism studies center tourist experience on visual impressions (Pan & Ryan, 2009), recent research stresses the importance of recognizing and understanding the role of the human body in the formation of positive experiences, which is in tourism literature known under the term sensescapes, i.e tactile, visual, gustatory, olfactory, and auditory senses (Dann & Jacobsen, 2003; Pan & Ryan, 2009; Portheus, 1985; Agapito et al., 2017). It has been argued that destinations reflect authentic multisensory experiences, can be branded based on their unique sensory features, and in doing so stimulate tourists' positive emotions and memory of a destination. However, studies in tourism that empirically recognize the role of five human senses in the creation of a positive experience are still scantly researched, especially in the context of urban areas where there is still a need for more theoretical and empirical discussion.

Urban areas reflect different multisensory dimensions that can be analyzed and included in marketing efforts to stimulate positive tourists' experience and memory of a place, but also to encourage local sustainable development. The approach to sustainable tourism indeed depends on effective local governance and stakeholders (Beaumont & Dredge, 2010). Governance plays a key role in the creation of a stable environment for households, the private sector, and investors (Detotto et al., 2021). For instance, tourism stakeholders should focus on the creation of experiencescapes, operational spaces where they are interconnected, and where experiences are formed and consumed in a meaningful way (O'Dell, 2005). Furthermore, servicescapes can be designed by the man, physically controlled and managed, and consist of signs, tools, artifacts, and so forth (Bitner, 1992). All-natural and artificial objects of a large urban setting can provide a symbolic representation of a place where each human sense plays an important role in experiencing the city (Borer, 2013). Thus, the ability of a government to produce the services that visitors expect is important (Detotto et al., 2021). Finally, both experiencescapes and servicescapes should be coordinated to produce bettered strategies, convey meaningful sensory impressions, and stimulate consumer reactions, persuading certain consumption activities that are going to happen in a destination.