From City Streets to Countryside Trails: B2B Motivations for Gamified Travel Experiences

Kirjoittajat

• Johanna Heinonen Itä-Suomen yliopisto ja LAB ammattikorkeakoulu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3338-4544
• Susanna Kolu Itä-Suomen yliopisto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.163647

Avainsanat:

gamification, gamified travel experiences, purchase motivation, B2B sales

Abstrakti

Rapid advancements in digital platforms have created new opportunities for gamification in the growing B2B tourism market, particularly within corporate and institutional tourism settings such as destination management organisations, event planners, and municipal tourism offices. However, research in this area remains limited. This study focuses on understanding the motivations for gamified travel tour investments among B2B customers. It aims to uncover the reasons behind their engagement with new service providers and whether motivations from gaming and tourism spending overlap.

A purposive sample of two gamified travel tour operators’ customer databases served as the population from which nine semi-structured interviews were drawn. A qualitative approach was employed, and the data were analysed thematically to identify key patterns. Results indicate a significant B2B market opportunity for gamified travel tours, with all study participants preferring them over traditional options. Purchase motivations were rational, including price, location, and usefulness; however, emotional drivers, such as team building, engagement, and learning, also played a significant role in the decision-making process.

The findings are significant because they provide guidance to service providers on how to balance the functional service advantages of marketing with engaging, interactive elements. Other cultural and geographic contexts, as well as urban-rural comparisons, could broaden the scope of gamified applications in future studies.