Stories and design in tourism

The aim of this paper is to explore the use of stories as a concept to guide the design of various dimensions of tourism and tourist experience. After reviewing this wider social science literature on the important roles that stories play in human experience, the paper examines the main themes relevant to stories and tourist experience emerging from existing tourism research. An overall conceptual framework for stories and storytelling in tourism is then described. While the main focus of the paper is on the design of tourist experience opportunities and destination promotion, applications related to the use of stories in other aspects of tourism are suggested.