Memorable Tourist Experience Scale

What it measures

Measures the quality of tourist experiences across eight dimensions making travel memorable. Kim's memorable tourism experience framework moves beyond service quality to capture richness, novelty, and meaning of tourism encounters. Widely used in destination experience research and experiential tourism design.

Response format

Likert (1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

Hedonism — pleasurable feelings during the trip (Likert 1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

• I had a lot of fun during this trip.
• I enjoyed myself very much on this trip.
• I felt real pleasure during this trip.
• This trip was really enjoyable.

Refreshment — sense of escape and renewal

• This trip helped me escape from my routine.
• I was able to relax during this trip.
• This trip helped me recharge my energy.

Local Culture — engagement with the local way of life

• I was exposed to a different culture during this trip.
• I experienced local customs and traditions.
• I tried local food and cuisine.
• I interacted with local people.

Knowledge — learning new things

• I gained new knowledge during this trip.
• I learned something new on this trip.
• I was intellectually stimulated during this trip.

Novelty — seeking new and different experiences

• I experienced something new and different during this trip.
• I visited new places I had never been to before.
• I experienced things that I don't normally encounter at home.

Involvement — active participation in activities

• I was actively involved in various activities.
• I participated in activities that interested me.
• I did things I am passionate about on this trip.

Meaningfulness — personal significance of the experience

• This trip was meaningful to me.
• I will remember this trip for a long time.
• This trip created memories that I will always cherish.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Eight subscale scores. Novelty and meaningful experiences are the strongest predictors of repeat visitation and destination loyalty. Widely used in research on experiential tourism design and heritage interpretation.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Kim, J.H. (2014). The antecedents of memorable tourism experiences: The development of a scale to measure the quality and meaningfulness of travel experiences. Tourism Management, 44, 34–45.

Keywords